Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General STPI as Guest of Honour in the Fireside Chat with Shri Arnab Chakraborty, Director at The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the session “Leveraging IT Export Services in Trade Business” at International Trade Conclave 2025, New Delhi, shared perspectives on STPI's pivotal role in leveraging IT export services and promoting startup ecosystem in the country.
Key points from the chat session are:
▶️ Transforming India’s IT Export Landscape – India’s IT & ITES exports have grown to ~$200 billion, contributing nearly 7% to GDP, a massive leap from 1.2% in 1988-89, positioning India as a global IT powerhouse.
▶️ STPI’s Foundational Role – Established in 1991, STPI was instrumental in addressing key barriers such as high computing costs, lack of high-speed data connectivity, and regulatory challenges, making IT exports feasible and scalable. STPI provided affordable high-speed data communication services, state-of-the-art incubation centers with computing devices/resources, and single-window clearances, helping startups and IT firms scale efficiently.
▶️ Expansion in Tier-II & III Cities – With 67 STPI centres, including 59 in Tier-II & III cities, STPI has democratized IT growth, fostering local employment, regional innovation, and a balanced tech ecosystem beyond metro cities.
▶️ India’s Transition to Product Development – While India is globally recognized for IT services, focus and capitalizing through R&D, indigenous product development and AI solutions will yield effective result.
▶️ Driving India’s Startup Ecosystem – STPI through its domain specific 24 CoEs and startup schemes like NGIS is fuelling tech entrepreneurship through funding, mentorship, networking opportunities, technology support etc.
▶️ Global Demand: India is emerging as a trusted technology partner, with nations looking to us for reliable and cost-effective tech solutions. The world expects India to drive innovative, scalable, and secure technology development.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology|Ashwini Vaishnaw|Jitin Prasada|S Krishnan|Arvind Kumar|nand kumarum|Krishan Kumar Singh|Tata Steel|Exide Industries Limited|DSV - Global Transport and Logistics|State Bank of India|PwC|Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd.|India Exim Bank|
