(17 March 2007 2:30 pm)

MUMBAI: At the fifth International Conference on Communications Convergence being organised by the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) Maharashtra minister for finance and planning Jayantrao Patil says that the state is determined to lead other Indian states in terms of convergence of technologies.

As has been the case in the past Maharashtra will continue to be the growth driver of the Indian economy by providing a fertile ground for newer science and technologies. In 2003 Maharashtra accounted for 15.8 per cent of India's telephone subscribers, 9.5 per cent of telephone connections, 9.1 per cent of urban connections and 1.1 per cent rural connections.

"These figures have risen steeply in the last three years. At the end of 2006 the teledensity inn the country has risen to 17.16 per cent. This is much more than the targeted teledensity of 15 per cent at the end of 2010." Mumbai he notes has 6.5 per cent of the country's mobile users. For the state it is 14.5 per cent.

Financial Technologies Group CEO Jignesh Shah says that India has a rich pool of talented young people.

"Even in the face of heavy odds and lack of infrastructure India's telecommunications sector has witnessed enviable growth. ETH research chairman Dr Vijay P Bhatkar notes that on 15 March researchers in Pune launched a multi play technology. This he says is a path breaking discovery after India leapfrogged into the are of supercomputing several years ago.