The Planning Ministry will support extension of tax sops to the IT industry and work towards avoiding harsh impact of the Direct Tax Code, Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs Narayanasamy said here on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the 10th edition of Connect 2010,' a flagship annual ICT event of the State government, Confederation of Indian Industry and IT Ministry, Mr. Narayanasamy said he would take up both issues with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

As a person looking after the IT sector in the Planning Commission, I will be your ambassador in protecting the interests of the IT industry, he said.

Earlier, addressing IT leaders, Mr. Narayanasamy sought the support of the CII and NASSCOM in convincing the government that the existing tax benefits due to lapse in 2011 should be continued to pave the way for further growth of the economy.

The Minister urged the IT industry to connect the disconnected, by reaching out to Tier II and III cities. The Centre was keen to provide incentives for companies that were willing to go to smaller towns and rural areas.

He also wanted the IT sector to invest in hardware development and R&D.

The government was examining the recommendations of the Ajai Chowdhry IT Hardware Task Force.

In a special address, Jung-Chiou Hwang, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan, made out a strong case for synergising India's software power and Taiwan's hardware prowess.

Taiwan, with a total ICT output of about $ 300 billion, is the world's leading player in about 37 product categories, and world leader in 10 ICT product categories such as notebooks, net books, LCD monitors, and mother boards, he pointed out.

P.W.C. Davidar, State IT Secretary, said the government was set to launch an employment exchange portal on September 15, as part of various ongoing e-governance initiatives.

S. Gopalakrishnan, chairman, Southern Region, CII, called for harnessing IT to benefit industry, society, and the common man. The ICT should play a central role in ensuring economic sustainability as well as promoting environmental and social sustainability, both as an industry and as a key element of enabling infrastructure.

S. Mahalingam, chairman, Connect 2010, said the event focussed on next practices and forming natural clusters by integrating sectors such as automobile, engineering & manufacturing, healthcare, and entertainment with IT.

Nandini Rangaswamy, chairperson, CII- Tamil Nadu, said the CII sought to condense the outcomes of various Connect editions to construct an ICT vision for the next 10 years.