India's IT spending to quadruple

India's spending on information technology will quadruple by mid-decade to $5.8bn from $1.3bn last year, according to a survey by Gartner Dataquest.

India's IT sector is expected to suffer next year as uncertainties in the world economy are mirrored locally but is likely to make a quick recovery.

Spending is set to grow by a hefty 25% to $1.6bn in the current fiscal year to March 2002.

"Our local research shows that IT management services continue to do well despite sluggish economies," said Rolf Jester, Gartner's Asia Pacific director.

He predicted that spending would pick up again by 2003.

Networking, security and telecommunications services will be the main drivers of growth, the survey found.

The local market is dwarfed by India's IT exports, which are expected to be worth $50bn by 2008.