GANESH NATARAJAN IS NEW NASSCOM CHAIRMAN

New Delhi
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Software association Nasscom today announced the appointment of Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Deputy Chairman & Managing Director of Zensar, as its new Chairman for the financial year 2008-09, while Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO of Genpact has been elected as the new Vice-Chairman.

The appointment comes at a critical time when the Indian IT/BPO industry is facing multiple uncertainties including fears of an imminent slowdown in the US, and the looming sunset clause for the STPI scheme. “We will focus on giving every segment a reason to succeed and grow. Whether is it the STPI issue or the US market growth, we will work with all segments. Also, these are not long term issues.

“Our priority is to make sure that all the stakeholders are aware of the challenges. In addition, domestic market will be a focus area,” Dr Natarajan told Business Line.

Asked if the industry anticipated a slowdown, he said, “There may be some slowdown in customer spending, but that will be in the short term. We will have to be cautious about the indiscriminate costs.” Dr Natarajan takes over from Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman, board of directors, Cognizant Technology Solutions, who was Nasscom chairman for the year 2007-08.

“It is an honour to be elected as the Vice-Chairman of Nasscom at the time when the IT-BPO industry is entering its next growth phase.

“As a part of the Nasscom leadership team, I will be focusing on leading the Indian BPO and IT industry globally and focusing on key initiatives such as education and security that are crucial for growth of the industry in the years to come,” Bhasin said in a statement. Bhasin has been leading Nasscom BPO Forum.