INDIAN IT-BPO HEADS FOR SLOWDOWN

New Delhi
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The Indian IT-BPO industry is headed for a slowdown in growth this year but is on track to achieve its target of exports worth $60-billion by 2010, industry association Nasscom said on Friday.

“There will be some slowdown but growth will happen. The $60-billion target will be maintained and achieved,” said Nasscom president Som Mittal. Mittal said that the Indian IT-BPO industry needs to grow at 22-23% in future to achieve the $60-billion export target, a rate which could be achieved and exceeded easily.

“There will be 4-6 months of sluggish growth but we don’t think there is any long, deep recession setting in,” said the association’s new chairman Ganesh Natarajan. The Zensar Technologies CEO added that in some cases, slowdown has already led to more outsourcing.

Nasscom vice-chairman and Genpact CEO Pramod Bhasin said there was still lack of clarity over the impact of the slowdown in the US. “The impact will be clearer in the next 3-6 months,” he said.

Nasscom estimates published in its Strategic Review 2008 pegged Indian IT-BPO industry’s revenue growth in fiscal 2007-08 at 33%, exports at over $40-billion and domestic revenue at over $23-billion. The association would release the final figures for FY’08 in June.

With elections in the US, the issue of job losses due to outsourcing has raised its head again. Natarajan said Nasscom is trying to deal with the issue. “We are getting our point of view across by presenting data to prove our case,” he said.

The association laid out its six-point agenda for fiscal 2008-09 on Friday. The agenda includes focus on innovation, building communities for sharing best practices, collaboration, green IT, societal development and education & skill building. Nasscom also announced the appointment of Raju Bhatnagar as vice-president.

He will focus on the BPO sector. The association said it will also put in place initiatives to address infrastructure and security issues.