The Hindu Business Line : Software export growth target will be met: Karnik

Mr.Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, US; flanked by Mr Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom (left); and Mr Firoz Vandrewala, Executive Council member, at a function in the Capital on Friday. - - Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , April 2

WHILE the steady rise of the rupee against the dollar is unlikely to hit the software growth targets for 2003-04, the appreciation in the currency has the industry worried.

"We believe that the software export growth target of 26-28 per cent for the fiscal gone by will be achieved. When we had made the projections, we had said that it was based on the fixed rupee-dollar rate. We stand by it," said Dr Kiran Karnik, President of Nasscom.

The projected figures for 2003-04 are unlikely to get affected because most of the rupee appreciation happened in the tail-end of the year, he added.

According to Nasscom's projections for 2003-04, Indian software and services exports are likely to touch $12 billion in revenues.

Dr Karnik, however, admitted that an appreciating rupee was a matter of concern for the industry.

"We are worried ... especially over the last few days. This kind of appreciation of rupee is difficult for any export industry, more so for an industry like software where there is very low import intensity. Other industries may be importing as well, where they can save money. But we don't," he said on the sidelights of a talk by Mr Norman J. Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

During his lecture, Mr Ornstein said that the political debate in the US over outsourcing was likely to continue even after the Presidential elections, as it had become an extremely emotive issue.

Mr Ornstein, however, also said that he expected economic sense to prevail and a greater number of US companies to outsource work to India to exploit the economic advantage of such arrangements.