GENEVA: The head of India's top software industry body, Nasscom, on Wednesday
said European growth would drive up the country's export revenues from software
and services by 30-35 per cent per year, valuing the export industry at $50
billion by 2008.
Nasscom chairman Phiroz Vandrevala , told journalists the industry was
sticking to a prediction of 34 per cent average annual growth between 1998 and
2008.
"We believe that by the year 2008, India will be a $50 billion software
export industry," he said, adding that in the financial year to end March
2001, the industry exported around $6 billion.
"At this point in time... there seems to be no reason for us to revise
our target. Clearly a 30-35 per cent compound annual average growth rate in the
remaining seven years of our vision is achievable and sustainable." The
industry is expected to grow by around 30 per cent in the year to March 2002 --
a relatively poor performance.
"That is lower than the 45-50 per cent that we recorded consecutively
for the last four to five years... but a 30 per cent growth rate in the current
global economic climate is something to be extremely proud of," Vandrevala
said.
The industry has earmarked Europe as its fastest-growing market and expects
Europe's share of revenues to rise to 26 per cent in the year to March 2002 from
24 per cent last year. "Internally within the industry we have set a target
that by the year 2004/2005, we would like to see at least 30 per cent of our
revenues coming from Europe," Vandrevala said.
"For European corporations to be globally competitive, they have to
source from the most competitive locations. That process is beginning to happen
and that gives us the confidence that the European market will continue to
grow," he said.
India had not suffered too much from a slowdown in the North American market,
which traditionally accounts for around 65 per cent of revenues, he said.
"We are affected because as the global spending in IT slowed down, our
share has slowed down, but at the same time a very large number of significant
US corporations that previously did not do any work with India are now looking
at India.
"In the long term we believe the economic pressure will give us
significant benefits," he said.
(C) Reuters Limited.