By IANS
Bangalore/New Delhi : The Indian IT sector, registering a rip-roaring growth, is expected to clock $50 billion revenues in 2007-08 with companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro retaining the top slots, says a leading industry body.
The Indian IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) industry recorded a growth of 30.7 percent as against a projected 27 percent, registering revenues of $39.6 billion in fiscal 2006-07 up from $30.3 billion in 2005-06, according to a report by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM).
"The software and services industry continues to exceed forecasts year after year and we are confident that the forecast $50 billion in FY 07-08 will be achieved, as will the target of $60 billion exports by FY 09-10," Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said in a statement.
"From a market opportunity perspective, the indicators continue to be positive with a potential addressable market of over $300 billion, driven by growth of existing business and new services line opportunities," he added.
According to the annual Nasscom survey reviewing 2006-07, in the export segment, services accounted for $18 billion, with a growth of 36 percent, while ITES and business process outsourcing (BPO) grew by 34 percent to $8.4 billion. Engineering services and products contributed $4.9 billion, a growth of 23 percent.
"A robust export growth of 33 percent was the main factor in the industry's performance exceeding expectations. Marked by scope and scale expansion, the Indian IT industry became an integral part of the global outsourcing strategy. Application management and remote infrastructure management services were the key drivers behind the export growth," Karnik noted.
Nasscom chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said: "The Indian software and services industry continued its outstanding performance in FY '07.
"Marked by double digit growth, the year witnessed India's enhanced role in global trade with momentum in new contracts and renewals, increased traction in a range of services, expansion of geographic footprint, more mergers and acquisitions and heightened interest among private equity investors to drive newer growth opportunities."
As the largest employer in the organised sector, the IT industry recruited 1.6 million people in the fiscal under review and created indirect jobs for a whopping six million people across the country.
In the export segment, the industry employed around 1.2 million people, with hiring spree going up by 34 percent. IT software and services firms added 177,000 techies, while the ITES-BPO segment recruited 138,000.
"The industry's contribution to the nation's GDP has gone up to 5.2 percent, impacting the socio-economic development of the country," Narayanan, who is also vice-chairman of Cognizant Technology Solutions, said.
Led by IT bellwethers TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam, the top 20 services firms accounted for 60-70 percent of the industry's topline growth as well as profitability.
As the premier trade body, Nasscom has 1,100 members representing around 95 percent of the Indian IT services' industry spawning products, consulting, ITES-BPO, e-commerce and web, engineering, animation and gaming. About 250 global firms are also members of the organisation.