Believing firmly that this is the time to build skills and bridge the skill shortage gap, Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan has drawn up plans to carry forward this process in different states.

Nasscom is already facilitating skill development programs in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh etc. and is keen on extending the same to the northern region including Chandigarh, which has considerable presence of IT and ITES companies.

Talking to Fe on the sidelines of the Nasscom-TiE CEO Forum here, Natarajan said, ?China is fast emerging as a competitor where skilled people are concerned. Nasscom is acting as a facilitator in promoting programs for skill building. It’s a three tier system where the training takes place at the university level, college and school level. We are also mulling over starting this process of capacity building of the talent pool in Punjab and Chandigarh and the response so far is positive.”

He also suggested that the entry-level assessment for BPO and IT sector should be backed by finishing schools through NAC and NAC-Tech. The education capacity should be enhanced and education reform should be promoted. The Faculty Development Programme can help in increasing the suitability of teachers. Even the Nasscom VC fund is focused on technology innovation.

Natarajan further added, ?We expect the software and services revenue to grow by 21-24% by the end of financial year 2008-09 and the exports to reach $50 billion. The IT industry will hire about two lakh professionals this year and there are no job cuts.?

?Due to current slowdown, the salary appreciation has fallen to about 9% this year as compared to 13.5% last year. We project this to further reduce to 7.5% in the next fiscal, he said.?

?The companies are tackling the situation through measures like wage moderation, reduced lateral hiring, more efficient asset utilisation especially in real estate and IT. We see the condition improving between September 2009 and March 2010,? he said.

As sectors like aviation and retail stand saturated, there?s huge scope of growth in areas like media, animation, utilities and software products.

The companies are also exploring new territories including eastern & central Europe, Africa and Latin America.