New Delhi: The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is scheduled to be launched sometime later this year, can be up to Rs 5,000 crore in size.

Talking to the media on the sidelines of an annual conference of Manufacturers Association of information Technology (Mait), TCS chairman emeritus FC Kohli said, "It would be a large IPO and could be in the range of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore."

He said that the company was involved in necessary ground work in terms of hiving off TCS from Tata Sons and also working towards appointing a consortium of merchant bankers.

However, he declined to name the bankers being considered for the job.

Commenting on anomalies in certain clauses of Income Tax Act that was creating hindrance in IPO process, Mr Kohli said, "Anomalies in the clauses have been removed and there were never any issues as far as ownership is concerned, even after 10 per cent dilution, Tata Sons would continue to be owner of TCS".

The Mait conference was earlier inaugurated by the minister of state for commerce and industries Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

In his keynote address the minister said that his ministry along with other ministries and government departments were working towards facilitating an economic climate to make India a lucrative IT hardware manufacturing outsourcing destination.

Mr Rudy said, "Key structural trends of the international industry are resulting in increased outsourcing of parts of the manufacturing value-chain.

"And, India can emerge as a significant player in this area."

The association has decided to promote innovation and research activities in the Indian hardware sector as an special focus for this year.

Addressing a conference on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Mait president Vinay Deshpande, said, "It is high time that the Indian IT industry focused on innovation and research and development.

"We now need to develop cost-effective IT products and solutions for mass consumption, and treat the world as our market."

The Mait Annual Day also marked change in guard at Manufacturers Association of information Technology. Cisco vice- president and head of India global development center, S Devarajan took over as the president from the outgoing president, Vinay Deshpande.