The Hindu Business Line : Tech sector concerns surmountable: Nasscom

Mumbai, Feb. 15 The IT industry association, Nasscom, today maintained that three broader industry concerns of weakening dollar, impending tax holiday-related issue, and the possibility of slowdown in the US are surmountable.

While the industry managed to live with fluctuating dollar for the past one year, clearly, the slowdown-related concerns may not be bad, but they do throw up a few challenges.

At the concluding session of the three-day Nasscom Leadership Forum, Mr Jerry Rao, Chairman, EDS Asia-Pacific, said that the industry could look forward to a rewarding five- year period ahead. The recent entry of 180 products companies, 10 of which were chosen for innovation, is indicative of the innovation in the country.

The Vice-Chairman of Nasscom, Mr Ganesh Natarajan, said that the association is completing 20 years and the ripples of the industry growth over the years are being felt across different sectors.

‘Move to next phase’

Striking a different tone, the Managing Director of Warburg Pincus, Mr Leo Puri, said that the industry is far too concerned about protecting its margins rather than making investments for the future through M&A activity. This is not an investor’s perspective but gives a feeling that the industry is growing fat and happy in the last few years based on mere labour-arbitrage model. This has to change to move on to the next phase, Mr Puri said.

The co-Founder of MindTree Consulting, Mr Subrato Bagchi, said that it was high time some of the middle level managers became entrepreneurs and tapped into some of the tier II and III cities, created new companies and provided jobs to local population. Such a move will also ensure social inclusion.

The panel discussion veered around addressing some of the industry concerns, related to expanding the talent pool. What was considered a strong point in India all these years needs to be consolidated by further strengthening higher education system in the country, Mr Jerry Rao said.

Promising sector

The Union Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, late on Thursday said that the industry committed $25 billion for the purchase of aircraft in 2006 and has committed investment of about $100 billion in 10 years. This means lot of jobs for overseas companies. One need not have grudge against India for taking away IT jobs, Mr Patel said, speaking at the Nasscom function.

Mr WillieWalsh, CEO of British Airways, for Business Transformation; Mr John Chambers, CEO of Cisco; and Mr Ratan N. Tata, Global India, were chosen by Nasscom for their leadership and contributions to respective sectors.

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Tech sector concerns surmountable: Nasscom