My visit to india Last month was a revelation of sorts. It was pre-election time and my office team in Bangalore was very happy. There would be no power outages now, said our manager. We had grown out of our central Bangalore office and were looking out for some good office locations. One was a very decent building close-by. Upon enquiry, we were informed that the rent was Rs. 4500 a square foot. At the height of the Internet boom, I did not see a spot in the Valley that was leased out at the $90-odd rate the agent in Bangalore was demanding. And get this—we had to lay down close to a year’s rent in security! I fear the cost factor may no more be an economic leverage for us.

The salaries in India have gone up multiple-fold. Not for a minute am I complaining about this. I am happy that Indian salaries are attractive enough to retain the talent in the homeland, but will this high payscale attract startups from the Valley to set up operations in India? Shiv Nadar once said that the trickle-effect of this boom will spawn new suburbs beyond Noida and Koramangala (a suburb of Bangalore). I hope that the trickle thickens soon enough for the effects to be felt, else the advantage will move on to the next country that is competitive enough to grab the business. China? Maybe. I fervently hope that the next phase of economic development will bring larger tracts of India into the networked world where the wealth percolates to even lower strata.

NASSCOM’s newly appointed chairman Jerry Rao said in his acceptance speech, “My endeavour will be to establish India as a high-quality, secure, reliable software powerhouse and centre for best practices in the BPO industry.” Isn’t it startling that even the head of India’s premier apex body of the IT industry views India’s power as only a service body?

We have over a 1,000 industries in India that would be great revenue generators if only we could find means by which IT could enable them to become more streamlined, efficient and connected with the world. To this end, we would need to devote time and money to build new products, not services. Cisco and IBM—U.S.-based corporations—are seeking new markets in India for their products, not services. For this, they will build new products in their boxes and codes. And then they will attack. At that time, will we—the Indian-born and bred IT industry—seek only a service market?

Your call.