Indian software market to grow 12.8% in 2017: Gartner

Mumbai, Nov 17: Buoyed by the emerging digital business strategies that Indian firms are fast adopting, the country's software revenue is set to reach $5.8 billion in 2017 -- a 12.8 per cent increase from 2016, a new report said on Thursday.

According to the market research firm Gartner, infrastructure software spending in India is projected to surpass $3.4 billion in 2017, a 10.2 per cent increase from 2016 and enterprise application software spending is forecast to grow 16.8 per cent in 2017.

"Emerging digital business strategies are changing enterprise organisations' buying behaviours in India and accelerating the demand for technology innovations and outcome-based solutions," said Bhavish Sood, Research Director, Gartner, said in a statement.

The computer software and hardware vertical had a foreign direct investment inflow of $5.9 billion from April 2015 to March 2016 -- an increase of nearly 150 per cent compared to the same period last year, the finding showed.

Gartner expects these investments to gather further momentum towards the year end. 

"Make in India" is set to boost the manufacturing sector, as well as make it easier to attract investment and "Digital India" is focused on creating digital infrastructure, digital delivery of services and increased digital literacy, the report added.