Blasts will not affect exports: Nasscom
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 27 August 2003, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: India's $9.5 billion-a-year software services export sector is unlikely to suffer in the wake of twin bomb blasts in Bombay, industry officials said on Tuesday. Two car bombs killed at least 48 people and wounded 150 others on Monday in the worst attack in the country's financial hub in a decade. No one has yet claimed responsibility, but police suspect the hand of an outlawed Muslim militant group. "This could be a point of concern for some clients, but this is something they have always taken in their stride while outsourcing business," said Kiran Karnik, president of lobby group National Association of Software and Service Companies. "Customers are more concerned about whether their business operations can function despite such incidents and we have shown time and again that this has been the case," he said. India's software firms have built a reputation on tapping the country's large pool of engineers and English-speaking graduates who are willing to work at a fraction of the wages expected by their western counterparts. Growth in India's software services export sector is being driven by overseas firms outsourcing business to cheaper locations to cut costs.

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