Mumbai, Apr 7 (IANS): IT spending in India is projected to total $93 billion in 2021, an increase of 7.3 per cent from 2020, according to a forecast by Gartner on Wednesday.

The growth in India will be lower than the global average, as worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.1 trillion in 2021, an increase of 8.4 per cent from 2020.

"IT no longer just supports corporate operations as it traditionally has, but is fully participating in business value delivery," John-David Lovelock, Distinguished Research Vice President at Gartner, said in a statement.

"Not only does this shift IT from a back-office role to the front of business, but it also changes the source of funding from an overhead expense that is maintained, monitored and sometimes cut, to the thing that drives revenue."

All IT spending segments are forecast to have positive growth through 2022.

The highest growth will come from devices (14 per cent) and enterprise software (10.8 per cent) as organisations shift their focus to providing a more comfortable, innovative and productive environment for their workforce, Gartner said.

Cloud is expected to drive majority of the expected software growth in India during 2021, it added.

"The Indian economy is observing a slow but steady growth trajectory this year," said Naveen Mishra, Senior Research Director at Gartner.

"Additionally, the government relaxation of foreign investment in certain sectors such as insurance, infrastructure, telecommunications will provide additional funds for business and IT leaders to accelerate their digital transformation journey."