Nasscom for 40 FII stake

Currently, FIIs are allowed to invest up to 24 of total paid-up shares of a company, but are authorised to increase it to 30 per cent after getting approval from the company8217;s board of directors. quot;We told the Finance Minister that in order to have continued 50 per cent-plus growth in exports and to achieve 50 billion of software exports annually by2008, it is essential that current incentives are not withdrawn and procedural obstacles are completely removed,quot; it quoted Nasscom president Dewang Mehta as saying.

Nasscom has urged that regulations on venture capital be quickly implemented with the Securities and Exchange Board of India as the nodal regulator. Also, it said, infotech firms should be given the freedom to quot;commit an acquisitionquot; overseas of up to 1 billion or 30 per cent of their market capitalisation. The firms should have the freedom to fund such buys through issue of global depositary receipts GDRs or out of free cash flow. quot;They should have freedom to pay for the acquisitions through debt and to source the debt independently,quot; it added.

The association has demanded that the emerging industry of call centres and IT-enabled services earning foreign exchange be provided tax holidays. quot;We are confident that the Finance Ministry would consider our request favourably,quot; Mehta told reporters at a press conference.

Software exports setto rise 60 pc: Nasscom has said that its latest survey had projected 60 growth in the country8217;s software exports in 2000 to 8 billion. quot;The 60 projected growth during the year 2000 proves the point that the Indian software industry is not dependent merely on Y2K-related projects,quot; a statement quoted Nasscom president Dewang Mehta as saying. quot;The software industry in India has earned 5 billion in the year 1999, which is a growth of 52 over the 1998 annual revenue of 3.29 billion,quot; he added.

He said that although the survey showed a slowdown in Y2K orders in the second half of 1999, it was offset by growth in other areas. quot;However, the slowdown in Y2K-related projects was morethan offset by new opportunities created in growth areas such as e-commerce and IT-enabled services which accounted for almost 16 of the export revenues generated in the second half of 1999.quot; e-commerce is the prominent emerging sectors for software exports.

Cyber cop to check Net hacking
NEW DELHI: A National SoftwareCyber Cop Committee, comprising government and industry officials, will be set up on March one to tackle the wave of hacker attacks on major internet sites. The 11-member committee will have police officials, software experts and government representatives, Nasscom president Dewang Mehta told newspersons here today.

8220;The committee will suggest steps to improve safety ofwebsites,8221; Mehta added. Releasing the Nasscom findings on internet usage in India, he said, 8220;we expect the first international gateway for private ISPs to be operational by June 2000, which will result in a dramatic increase in internet usage and connetivity in the country.8221;

According to the survey, internet connections are projected to go up to 14 lakh from the current 6.1 lakh connections, while internet users are expected to more than double to about five million by March 31, 2001 from the present 2.1 million. E-commerce transactions in the country are expected at Rs 450 crore in 1999-2000. 8220;With the cyberlaws likely to be clearedand implemented by mid-2000, Nasscom expects a 500 per cent growth in 2000-01 with Rs 2,500 crore worth of online transactions in India,8221; Mehta said.