GS Paper I 2021 · Q17
15 marks · 250 words Women, population, poverty & urbanisation X-Ray · Core #5What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India ?
Approach · directive: “what”
What it asks · Identify the main positive and negative social and economic effects of IT and IT-enabled services clusters in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Gurugram.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- What (economic): the main economic implications of IT clusters in major cities
- What (social): the main social implications
- Way forward: making the gains lasting and inclusive
Open with · NCERT notes that IT clusters such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune made the industry a major source of employment; revenue rose from US$ 118 billion (2014-15) to a projected US$ 283 billion (2024-25), reshaping these cities.
Cover
- Jobs: an estimated 5.43 million professionals, plus indirect work for drivers, guards, cooks and retailers.
- Exports: projected US$ 224 billion export revenue (2024-25) supports the current account.
- Land and rents: soaring prices; peri-urban farmland turns into tech parks.
- Imbalance: jobs cluster in few metros; dual economy of formal and informal workers.
- Women: 36% of the workforce, raising incomes and autonomy.
- Society: migration and cosmopolitanism, Taylorist work hours (NCERT), nuclear dual-income families, urban stress.
- Way forward: STPI and BPO schemes for small towns, transit and rental housing, social security, local skilling.
Close with · IT has made a few Indian cities global; making them liveable and their prosperity shared is the test of SDG 11 (sustainable cities) and SDG 8 (decent work).
Add value (verified)
- In a 2025 PIB note (after this exam), India's IT industry revenue grew from US$ 118 billion (export US$ 100 billion) in 2014-15 to a projected US$ 283 billion (export US$ 224 billion) in 2024-25 (NASSCOM figures), and 67 STPI centres and BPO promotion schemes for small towns have been set up.India's IT Industry Registers Significant Growth in Last Decade - Ministry of Electronics & IT, PIB (26 Mar 2025) ↗“Government has come up with various initiatives to promote IT industry across the country which include setting up of 67 centres of Software Technology Parks of India, 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), BPO Promotion Schemes for small towns/cities”
- A 2024 PIB document (after this exam) says the IT-ITeS industry employs an estimated 5.43 million professionals, and women make up 36% of its workforce.India's High-Tech Revolution - PIB backgrounder (Sept 2024) ↗“is estimated to employ 5.43 million professionals, an addition of 60,000 people over FY 2022-2023 (E). Women employees account for 36% share in total industry employee base.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 356words · Minimalist IAS
NCERT notes that the IT hubs of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune have made the industry a major source of employment. In MeitY's 2025 note (since then), industry revenue rose from US$ 118 billion (2014-15) to a projected US$ 283 billion (2024-25, NASSCOM figures), and the cities hosting it have changed in both economy and society.
Economic implications
- Jobs and multiplier: the industry employs an estimated 5.43 million professionals (FY 2023-24, since then), and each job sustains drivers, guards, cooks and retailers.
- Exports and forex: export revenue, projected at US$ 224 billion in 2024-25, cushions the current account.
- Land and rents: housing costs soar, and peri-urban farmland turns into tech parks, enriching some farmers and displacing others.
- Regional imbalance: jobs concentrate in a few metros, widening the gap with tier-2 cities and poorer States.
- Dual economy: well-paid formal employees live beside informal service workers who lack social security.
IT city: jobs; women at work; migration; rents; congestion; inequality
Social implications
- Women at work: women hold 36% of the industry's workforce (2024 estimate), gaining income, mobility and a say in family decisions.
- Migration and cosmopolitanism: youth from small towns and other States make these cities diverse, with occasional friction over language and local identity.
- Work culture: NCERT observes that IT work is also subject to Taylorist labour processes; long hours have even changed shop and restaurant timings in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram.
- Family and lifestyle: nuclear, dual-income households, consumerism, stress-related illness and new needs for childcare and elder care.
- Urban stress: congestion, falling groundwater, lost lakes and gated enclaves that separate the new middle class from the old city.
Way forward
- Spread the industry: extend Software Technology Parks of India (now 67 centres) and the BPO promotion schemes for small towns and cities.
- Plan ahead of growth: metro and bus transit, affordable rental housing, and protection of lakes and recharge zones.
- Share the gains: social security for gig and service workers, and skilling of local youth for tech jobs.
IT has made a few Indian cities global; making them liveable and their prosperity shared is the real test of SDG 11 (sustainable cities) and SDG 8 (decent work).
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
