IT exports may be higher than estimates: Kris
India?s IT exports this fiscal may be higher than estimated, with strong second quarter results, said Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys Technologies, on Thursday. Speaking at the Karnataka government?s annual IT.Biz event in Bangalore, Gopalakrishnan said Nasscom had estimated IT exports to grow between 13% and 15% this year, up from about 5% last year. ?I believe that given the strong performance in the second quarter by Indian companies, this number will probably be revised upwards,? he said. ?Overall, the IT/BPO (industry) is expected to touch $ 71.7 billion this year, accounting for about 5.8% of GDP,? Gopalakrishnan said. This growth, he said, is likely to create 1.5 lakh to 1.7 lakh jobs this year. With 7 cities across India accounting for 90% of the country?s IT export revenues currently, Gopalakrishnan said the focus is on creating about 43 new locations as the next IT/ITES hubs. ?It is therefore good to know that the IT sector is spreading its footprint to tier-two and tier-three cities, not only to meet the growing demand but also to meet rising saturation in tier-one cities at this point,? he said. The IT industry is creating a significant impact on the lifestyles in rural areas, he said, citing an informal survey at Infosys which found that nearly 40% of the company?s new recruits were from rural families and whose one or both parents had not even passed tenth standard. However, he added that growth in tier-one cities is an ?absolute must?, and with appropriate government support, could sustain high growth periods because smaller cities would grow at a much lower rate.
Not just software, focus on hardware too: Pilot
Indian IT companies should diversify into more geographies and focus on the domestic sector while investing more to provide niche services to ?stay ahead of the game?, minister of state for communications & information technology, Sachin Pilot, said on Thursday. ?Indian IT companies are global benchmark companies. They have a presence in dozens of countries and also create job opportunities in those countries. As an industry, we must make sure that we diversify the destination of the export portfolio,? Pilot said at the inauguration of the IT.Biz in Bangalore. Currently, at least 63% of IT exports are to the US, he said, adding that companies should look at South America, Africa and Asian markets as well, besides tapping the growth in the domestic market, currently worth $ 14 billion. ?It must not only be limited to software. We have enough talent, skills, raw material and knowhow to make India also a superpower in IT hardware manufacture,? he said, adding that the country?s present hardware demand of $45 billion is projected to grow to $ 125 billion by 2014 and $400 billion by 2020.
