Nasscom raises guidance on global cues, but India to remain weak

Information technology industry body Nasscom marginally raised its guidance for India's IT exports to 13-15 per cent for the next financial year (2014-15) fiscal from 12-14 per cent in the current year that ends on 31 March, with expected revenues of $15-17 billion for the IT and BPM industry on the back of a rise in global technology spending.

Business process management (BPM) is the new term that Nasscom uses for what was known as BPO, or business process outsourcing.

Together with the domestic market, the IT-BPM sector is expected to touch $130 billion in revenue in 2014-15, an addition of $13-14 billion over this year.

Nasscom president R Chandrashekharan, who is also executive vice-chairman of Cognizant, said that the global IT-BPM spending is projected to grow at 4.5 per cent in 2014, outpacing global GDP growth of 3.7 per cent.

"The IT industry has remained a powerhouse because it is not stationary and has kept adapting to newer opportunities. While global sourcing is growing at twice the size of worldwide IT spends, the Indian IT industry's growth is even faster," he said.

The domestic market this year however was a disappointment with revenues remaining flat at $32 billion. It is expected to grow by 9-12 per cent to Rs1.25 lakh crore-Rs1.28 lakh crore in 2014-15, way below the projection for exports.

"A slowdown in decision-making, rupee volatility and the upcoming elections have impacted discretionary IT spending," Chandrashekharan said.

He was speaking on the eve of Nasscom's flagship annual event, the India Leadership Forum (NILF) 2014.

The three-day event begins today, and will bring together over 1,000 companies and over 1,500 delegates from 31 countries. It is the 22nd edition of the event.

Chandrashekharan said the industry is well on track to meet its projection of clocking $300 billion in revenues by 2020.

Nasscom said social, media, analytics, cloud (SMAC) technologies are reshaping businesses and this component is expected to contribute anywhere between 5-10 % of the sector's revenue.

Krishnakumar Natarajan, chairman of Nasscom, said the entrepreneurial ecosystem would energize the next wave of growth. "With 1,200 start-ups emerging in the country, they are infusing energy and innovation across sectors including e-commerce, education and healthcare. India could become the global hub for digital transformation," he said.

The IT industry employee base is expected to cross 3 million with an addition of 1.66 lakh in 2013-14. The industry is among the highest employers of women, whose number is expected to cross 1 million.

Nasscom said hiring has shifted from capacity to skill-oriented employment as companies focus on non-linear revenue models that make a business impact.