IT exports growth may top 35%: Nasscom

By agencies   |   Wednesday, 30 March 2005, 20:30 IST
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HYDERABAD: Enthused by the performance of Indian software and services companies, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) says the overall exports could surpass the projections for 2004-2005. Exports growth may exceed 35 percent as opposed to the 30-32 percent projected earlier in the year, which was considered stiff then given the outsourcing backlash concerns and the impending U.S. elections. "With most of the numbers for 2004-2005 in place, we believe that the software exports would possibly go past the 35-percent mark," the Nasscom president, Kiran Karnik said. He reiterated that the targeted $50 billion in software exports was on track. In 2003-04, the Indian software and services industry registered revenues of about $15.9 billion, including domestic revenues of $3.4 billion. Earlier exports were expected to grow to $16.3 billion from $12.8 billion. The IT-enabled service (ITeS) segment is growing rapidly and trends indicate the companies are scaling up the value chain. Given the business trends, Nasscom has projected that the Indian software and services revenues would grow to about $20.5 billion in 2004-2005, including domestic market revenues of $4.2 billion. Hyderabad and Pune have moved a few notches up and with infrastructure pressure on large metros, the emergence of some new cities on the IT radar is heartening. Kolkata is showing signs of growth and Chandigarh, Jaipur and Visakhapatnam are joining the mainstream. Wipro, TCS and Satyam have evinced interest in Visakhapatnam. While Nasscom would be very happy to see the establishment of semiconductor fab, the growing interest of some electronics companies looks promising. "While the IT sector has become a preferred industry in terms of jobseekers over the last decade, this is set to change. We believe this will not last long as this coincides with the emergence of other competitive sectors and good pay packages could challenge this system. We need to brace up for the challenge of manpower growth," Karnik said. "Given the momentum, meeting the demand for quality human resource would prove to be a tough task. This calls for a concerted effort on the part of the policymakers and the industry to work in tandem to address this crucial issue if the industry were to sustain growth," he said.