There is a likelihood of the two reports being consigned to the political dustbin following the dissolution of the 12th Lok Sabha.

The task force completed its mandate after recommending steps required to formulate a comprehensive IT policy blueprint which was in the offing. With the BJP now running a caretaker government, it seems unlikely that any concrete action will emerge on the two reports.

The task force will complete its thrice-extended duration on April 30, though a senior task force member maintained on Wednesday that it will continue irrespective of the political developments since the panel was also expected to monitor the implementation of the already notified recommendations.

The second report was submitted to the government on November 22 after it received support from all industry associations. There were positive indicatorsthat many of its key recommendations would be implemented in the Union budget, but that did not happen.

Serious objections from the finance ministry on the crucial recommendation of setting up of duty-free S-BIT manufacturing regime led to the appointment of a seven-member group of ministers (GoM) in early February. Six ministers approved the report, but it is yet to get a nod from the finance minister. With polls on the horizon, there is uncertainty over the future of the second and third reports.

Expressing his disappointment over the turn of events, Manufacturers Association of Information Technology director Vinnie Mehta said, "the hardware sector was very hopeful that the government will eventually consider its demands favourably. Now the industry associations will have to work all over again to sensitise a new government and take the agenda of a conducive IT manufacturing environment forward."

The third report, comprising the reports of the four sub-groups of the task force, has detailed along-term framework for research, design and human resource development. It was submitted to the government on April 16 but the government fell before it could consider it.

Referring to the future of the task force, its spokesperson and Nasscom president Dewang Mehta said: "I am confident that ultimately, the second and third reports too will be implemented by the new government. The outgoing government did extremely well in imparting a big push to the sector, but since IT has come to be supported by every political outfit, we don't expect any slowdown in the good work done by the task force."

The general thinking in the industry is that with IT already identified as a major thrust area by most of the states irrespective of their political hue, any incoming government at the Centre is expected to give similar treatment to the sector. It is the implementation of S-BIT, however, which can prove to be tricky.