Indian manufacturers and natural resources companies will spend Rs 40,800 crore on IT products and services in 2013, an increase of 9.1 per cent over 2012, research firm Gartner today said.

These companies spent about Rs 37,400 crore in 2012 on internal IT (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications, Gartner said in a statement.

The telecommunications category would remain the biggest spending

vertical overall and is forecast to reach Rs 13,200 crore in 2013.

Software is likely to register the highest growth rate amongst the categories -– forecast to exceed 15 per cent in 2013 -- with strong growth expected in enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, desktop software and manufacturing-specific applications, it added.

Gartner expects high demand for consulting services as manufacturers plan for these implementations, forecasting growth of over 22 per cent in 2013.

"Despite India's slowing economic growth, manufacturing and natural resources remain large and important sectors in the Indian economy, and they are attracting increased IT spending to improve productivity and competitiveness," Gartner Research Director (Manufacturing) Ken Brant said.

Indian manufacturers are seeking to use IT to make process improvements and information from across manufacturing operations more transparent and actionable, he added.