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The Indian IT industry is growing at 21 per cent per annum, reaching Dh92 billion ($25 billion) in recent years and it is expected to cross Dh239 billion ($65 billion) by 2009, according to officials. Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), organisers of the successful Gitex series of IT exhibitions, yesterday rebranded its Hyderabad event to Gitex India, in an apparent attempt to raise its profile and attract a larger segment of the global IT industry. The move, according to a DWTC official, is not aimed at launching separate exhibitions in different Indian cities. Officials of DWTC and Andhra Pradesh government signed a MoU, renewing their commitment to organising Gitex in India for the fifth consecutive year from January 11 to 13, 2006. "We took the Gitex brand outside the Middle East for the first time in 2002 and marked the introduction of a new era in the history of our organisation," said DWTC's general manager Abdullah Qassem. Last year's event drew in exhibitors and delegations from Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Oman, Pennsylvania (USA), South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and the UAE. K. Ratna Prabha (IAS), secretary to the Andhra Pradesh government's ITC department, said: "As a state, AP has successfully used IT to attain a position of leadership and excellence in the region and more importantly, has managed to spread the reach of IT beyond the city of Hyderabad itself. We are now involved in developing facilities state wide to include second-tier cities such as Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Warangal and Tirupati," Prabha remarked. During the last event Gitex Shopper Hyderabad generated retail sales of more than Dh2.6 million (Rs30 million). Last year, the event registered a growth of 26 per cent (7,938) in trade visitors while general public registrations crossed the 17,250 mark.
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