Blasts will not affect exports: Nasscom

BANGALORE: India's $9.5 billion-a-year software services export sector is unlikely to suffer in the wake of twin bomb blasts in Bombay, industry officials said on Tuesday.

Two car bombs killed at least 48 people and wounded 150 others on Monday in the worst attack in the country's financial hub in a decade. No one has yet claimed responsibility, but police suspect the hand of an outlawed Muslim militant group.

"This could be a point of concern for some clients, but this is something they have always taken in their stride while outsourcing business," said Kiran Karnik, president of lobby group National Association of Software and Service Companies.

"Customers are more concerned about whether their business operations can function despite such incidents and we have shown time and again that this has been the case," he said.

India's software firms have built a reputation on tapping the country's large pool of engineers and English-speaking graduates who are willing to work at a fraction of the wages expected by their western counterparts.

Growth in India's software services export sector is being driven by overseas firms outsourcing business to cheaper locations to cut costs.

They are forecast to rise 26 percent in the year to March 2004, matching last year's growth rate.

Last year, India's software industry had shrugged off a tense military standoff between India and Pakistan, but business did slow down temporarily as foreign governments advised their citizens against travelling to India.

But Sudip Banerjee, head of enterprise business at Wipro Ltd, India's third-largest software exporter, was not unduly perturbed.

"This is not a unique risk for India. We have seen such incidents happen worldwide and people get on with their lives," he said.

© Reuters