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Narayana Murthy advocates two-party system in India

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: Expressing happiness over a stable government coming to power at the Centre, Infosys Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy said that a two-party system is good for India.

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“We are all happy that there is a stable government at the centre,” he told media n the sidelines of the 28th Annual General Meeting of Infosys Technologies here today.

When he was asked whether he supported a two-party system in the country, Murthy, citing examples of countries like USA and UK, said that such a system would be good for the nation.

He also said that inclusive growth is the need of the country at this point of time, so that sectors like education, healthcare would benefit more.

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During his speech at the general meeting, Murthy said the entire world is going through a severe financial crisis that has led to a global recession, of a magnitude never anticipated by the critics of the free market system.

Later, while interacting with the media, when he was asked whether he is opposed to free market, Murthy said free market system is not a failure.

Pointing out that the global meltdown has severely impacted the industry, Murthy said Infosys’ revenue in terms of US Dollar terms was less than the revenue guidance.

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“We started the year with a revenue guidance of a growth of 19 per cent – 21 per cent in US Dollar terms. During the course of the year, we ran into a perfect storm of a global financial crisis, and growth and revenues were severely impacted… Despite these adversities, we ended the year with our revenues growing by 11.7 per cent,” he said.

As per the dividend policy the company directors have recommended a final dividend of Rs 13.50 per share, making it a total dividend of Rs 23.50 per share for the year.

Pointing out that Infosys’ banking solution Finacle is doing well, he also said the platform was named a Leader in the January 2009 report: ‘The Forrester Wave: Global Banking Platforms, Q1, 2009’.

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Murthy said many of the clients of Infosys are reducing their IT budget and this would impact the growth of the company during the current year. And hence there is a decline in its revenue guidance for the fiscal 2010.

“A recent survey of our top 135 clients indicated that a majority of them would downsize their IT budgets. Consequently, our revenue guidance, in US Dollars, indicates a decline of 3.1 to 6.7 per cent in fiscal 2010,” he added.

Murthy also said Infosys has realigned its cost structure to protect margins and for the fiscal 2010, the company has “postponed any revisions in compensations and promotions to remain competitive in the current difficult circumstance”.

He also informed investors that Infosys has filed 200 patent applications in the US and India, underlining the company’s focus on research and innovation even during difficult times.

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