India's aerospace software exports fly high

Indian software exports to aerospace industry have crossed the $500-million mark in 2010-11. “This niche segment is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 20 per cent,” said Mr B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, a Nasscom Executive Council member and Chairman and Managing Director of Infotech Enterprises.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr Reddy, however, cautioned that export growth rates could change keeping in view the cyclical nature of the aviation industry.

On the other hand, the promising aviation sector in Russia, Brazil and China could also help the Indian industry grow further, he said.

Infotech Enterprises, which specialises in engineering services, contributed $100 million or 20 per cent of aerospace exports from the country.

Software exports, which grew 10 times to $59 billion from $6 billion 10 years ago, are expected to cross the $225-billion mark by 2020. Of the $59 billion software exports from India, engineering services segment contributed $ 9 billion, he said.

But India's success story in IT service exports could hit an air pocket due to the lack of talent pool.

As it is employability of engineering graduates remains a cause for concern. “IT industry employs 25 lakh engineers directly and 10 lakh people indirectly. But the industry needs 75 lakh more engineers by 2020 to support the anticipated growth,” he said.

Mr Reddy said the industry was spending huge amounts on making fresh recruits employable.

“Nasscom has taken several initiatives to address this problem. We are working with some educational institutes to conduct a quick health check on their strengths,” he said.

Tie-up with varsity

To address the talent crunch in its own niche, the company has entered into an agreement with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (Kakinada) for preparing a curriculum for M.Tech (Avionics) course.

The idea was to create employable engineers for avionics industry.

“We will set up a Rs 50-lakh lab at the university and send experts to give lectures. Besides taking them on summer internships, we will absorb all eligible students after completion of the course. Students do not need to sign any contract with the company,” he said. Infotech had 2,500 employees working in aerospace and 500 in avionics segments. “We are adding 20 per cent to this number annually,” he said.