Rs 18,500-crore e-gov pie eyed

With India preparing to spend $4 billion (Rs 18,500 crore) 3 per cent of its annual budget on information technology and e-governance in 2010-11, IT companies cannot afford to ignore the government sector. The Union government plans to make it mandatory for state governments to spend on IT, said R Chandrashekhar, secretary, ministry of IT and communications, at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum.