TCS expects IT upturn in 2012-13

Tata Consultancy Services, India's biggest software exporter, expects the next year to be better than 2011-12 for the technology industry, despite the anti-outsourcing rhetoric of re-elected US president Barak Obama.

"We are seeing an uptick. There is a lot more clarity and certainty about projects and decision cycles. I'm quite positive; and companies want to adopt technologies and are making decisions," TCS chief executive officer and managing director N Chandrasekaran said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in New Delhi.

"Pricing is stable. So, I expect the next 12 months to be better than the last 12 months," Chandrasekaran said. He added that IT budgets were expected to be flat or slightly higher than last year; clearly indicating the weak global business environment.

Quizzed about Obama's re-election, he said US the focus would continue be on economic growth and job creation.

"We will not see anything new because we have lived through that (economic uncertainty) for the last couple of years. I think there will be a lot of economic activity, which is focused both on financial performance and better growth rates, also in terms of job creation.

"That focus translates into significant opportunity for the technology sector because it will be central in creating jobs in the US, India and in other markets which are used as global delivery centres," Chandrasekaran said.

 About visa related issues, he said, "Governments will look at policies of different kinds; and when the unemployment situation is high, there will be changes in regulations. All we need to look for is clarity and try to make adjustments to our business model."

"We (TCS have planned our jobs, staffing and visas better and have also recruited in other markets," he added.