Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Communications & Information Technology has said that the Government is in the process of evolving a roadmap for implementation of multilingual Domain Names known as Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) under the Devnagari and Dravidian scripts. Shri Maran said this while launching the HCL's initiative to integrate domain and e-mail infrastructure globally under ‘.in’ here today. The Minister also inaugurated HCL’s new state of the art building, which is the largest dedicated Remote Infrastructure Management facility in the country. Today's launch has made HCL, a Rs. 12,000 crore (US $ 2.7 billion) enterprise, to become the first major Enterprise in the country to integrate its domain and email infrastructure globally under the ‘.in’ domain. It has integrated its 30,000 strong global employees spread across 15 countries from Tokyo, Japan, in the East to Sunnyvale, California, the US, in the West. Complimenting HCL for this feat, Shri Maran has stated that HCL is the first Company to take a lead in the matter and hoped that the other companies would emulate its example. Shri Maran also explained that more than ‘.in’ Domain names, ‘.in’ e-mail addresses would help in popularizing the concept and thus pave way for furthering the IT capability of the country globally.
Speaking on the occasion , Shri Maran said that presently the Indian ICT industry is getting matured and has achieved consolidation. Double digit growth figures, now a part of the Software-ITES industry, helped the sector touch US$ 22.7 billion (Rs.97,860 crore) in 2004 – 05, making it a high potential segment within the Indian economy. The Software -ITES sector has recorded a CAGR of 32 percent over the last 5 years, Shri Maran said. The success achieved by this sector can be gauged by the fact that its share of the national economic output has more than trebled —from 1.2 percent in 1997 – 98 to about 4 percent in 2004 – 05, he added.
Shri Maran further said that India’s online population is currently at 25 million and is predicted to grow four fold by 2007. Likewise, the e-commerce transactions being conducted online is likely to go upto 2300 crore in the year 2006-2007 as compared to Rs. 570 crore during 2004-05. 55% of visitors to e-commerce sites have adopted the Internet as a shopping medium. The Internet user represents every facet of society and transcends any bias. Business and Enterprise are embracing this medium. Today, an e-mail address and a website have become a necessity. Any self respecting business or enterprise will have a website, the Minister said. With the accreditation of 35 Registrars throughout the country to offer ‘.in’ domain name registration worldwide to customers the registration has grown from 6,500 names to 1,41,000 as on date within a span of 10 months, he added.
Shiv Nadar, Founder HCL said "HCL endorses Shri Dayanidhi Maran’s vision for the adoption of ‘.in’ domain. Our Initiative, the first by a large Indian enterprise will ensure quicker adoption and establishment of Brand India on the global stage. Today, as a Rs 12,000 crore Enterprise, HCL is proud to have played a pioneering role in ushering in the IT revolution and helped transform India into a global IT superpower”
RM/AMA- 261005 HCL
(Release ID :12913)