By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, FEB 17, 2021: THE Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, on Wednesday lauded the country's IT sector for the tech solutions that were delivered during the COVID-19 crisis and for their commendable growth, as he addressed industry leaders at the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) Technology and Leadership (NLT) event.

"When the chips were down, your code kept the world running," Mr Modi said, praising the sector's two per cent growth and USD 4 billion in revenue when there was degrowth all around.

Calling upon the IT sector to ensure India's emergence as a tech leader, the Prime Minister noted that the country's eagerness from growth is being heard by the government and they are working on removing unnecessary regulations from the sector.

He then talked about the various initiatives taken by the government in liberalising the sector, such as the National Communication Policy and the deregulation of geospatial data and map-making to achieve a USD five trillion economy.

The Prime Minister also stressed the need for use of technology in governance to achieve transparency because "everything is being geo-tagged" so that projects can be monitored in real time.

"Technology has empowered the regular citizen in the country and connected him with the government. We have democratised data as well and last-mile service delivery has also been effective," the PM said.

He emphasized that young entrepreneurs and startups should have the freedom to leverage the new opportunities.

"Think how you can create institutions that will outlast this century. Think how you can create world class products that will set the global benchmark on excellence," the Prime Minister said.

Referring to the role played by India's tech sector in helping companies deal with the digital challenges of work from home, Mr Modi said it was the sector's "responsibility" to continue to deliver proactive solution for 21st century problems.