The Indian information technology industry
has played a key role in putting India on
the global map. Thanks to the success of the
IT industry, India is now a power to reckon
with. According to the National Association
of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM),
the apex body for software services in
India, the revenue of the information
technology sector has risen from 1.2 per
cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in
FY 1997-98 to an estimated 5.8 per cent in
FY 2008-09.
India's IT growth in the world is primarily
dominated by IT software and services such
as Custom Application Development and
Maintenance (CADM), System Integration, IT
Consulting, Application Management,
Infrastructure Management Services, Software
testing, Service-oriented architecture and
Web services.
The government expects the exports turnover
to touch US$ 80 billion by 2011, growing at
an annual rate of 30 per cent per annum,
from the earlier few million dollars worth
exports in early 1990s.
As per NASSCOM's latest findings:
Indian IT-BPO sector grew by 12 per cent in
FY 2009 to reach US$ 71.7 billion in
aggregate revenue (including hardware). Of
this, the software and services segment
accounted for US$ 59.6 billion.
IT-BPO exports (including hardware exports)
grew by 16 per cent from US$ 40.9 billion in
FY 2007-08 to US$ 47.3 billion in FY 2008-
09.
Moreover, according to a study by
Springboard Research, the Indian IT services
market is estimated to remain the fastest
growing in the Asia-Pacific region with a
CAGR of 18.6 per cent.
Despite the uncertainty in the global
economy, the top three IT majors— Infosys,
TCS and Wipro—have seen revenue growth from
all important sources of income: from the
North American and European regions, in the
financial services vertical and from
application maintenance and development
(ADM) offerings between fiscal years 2008
and 2009.
Outsourcing
A research by Gartner forecasts India as the
undisputed leader in the outsourcing space
in the year 2008. India's most prized
resource is its readily available technical
work force. India has the second largest
English-speaking scientific professionals in
the world, second only to the US. It is
estimated that India has over 4 million
technical workers, over 1,832 educational
institutions and polytechnics, which train
more than 67,785 computer software
professionals every year. The enormous base
of skilled manpower is a major draw for
global customers.
According to NASSCOM software and services
exports (including exports of IT services,
BPO, engineering services and R&D and
software products) reached US$ 47 billion in
FY 2008-09, contributing nearly 78 per cent
to the total software and services revenue
of US$ 59.6 billion.
Domestic Markets
India's domestic market has also become a
force to reckon with, as the existing IT
infrastructure evolves both in terms of
technology and depth of penetration.
According to NASSCOM, domestic IT market
(including hardware) reached US$ 24.3
billion in FY 2008-09 as against US$ 23.1
billion in FY 2007-08, a growth of 5.3 per
cent.
India Inc's demand for IT services and
products has bolstered growth in the
domestic sector with deal sizes going up
remarkably and contracts worth US$ 50
million-US$ 100 million up for grabs.
Such growth in the software and services
sector has been achieved because of
spectacular growths in some segments.
According to research firm Gartner, India's
personal computer (PC) market is likely to
grow by 13.7 per cent to 11.1 million units
in 2009, aided by a surge in demand for
laptops. The laptop market is expected to
grow by 37 per cent in 2009 to 3.69 million
units and constitute a third of the total PC
market.
Rural Penetration
According to a report of the Internet and
Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) rural
India has 3.3 million active internet users.
Since rural India was mapped for the first
time, the year-on-year growth of internet
users in rural India could not be estimated.
The research also notes there are 5.5
million people who claim to have used
Internet at some point in time.
Government Initiatives
The government set up the National Taskforce
on Information Technology and Software
Development with the objective of framing a
long term National IT Policy for the
country.
Enactment of the Information Technology Act,
which provides a legal framework to
facilitate electronic commerce and
electronic transactions.
The government-led National e-Governance
Programme, has played an important role in
increasing internet penetration in rural
India.
Road Ahead
The Indian information technology sector
continues to be one of the sunshine sectors
of the Indian economy showing rapid growth
and promise.
According to a report prepared by McKinsey
for NASSCOM, the exports component of the
Indian industry is expected to reach US$ 175
billion in revenue by 2020. The domestic
component will contribute US$ 50 billion in
revenue by 2020. Together, the export and
domestic markets are likely to bring in US$
225 billion in revenue, as new opportunities
emerge in areas such as public sector and
healthcare, and as geographies including
BRIC and Japan opt for greater outsourcing.
By:
Avneesh Pandey
B-tech (I.T)
7th sem |
