The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has tentatively pegged the growth rate for IT industry for the financial year 2017-18 at 8-10 per cent and hinted at the possibility of lower hiring. It, however, will come out with a final projection in May.

“The current velocity of business growth would support that (8-10 per cent). We have said this in November 2015. We expect this to continue next year. This, however, may go up or down when we revise it in May after analysing the fourth quarter (2016-17) numbers,” Nasscom Chairman CP Gurnani has said. The Nasscom, which used to come out with industry growth projections in February at the Leadership Forum in Mumbai, deferred the announcement to May, citing hazy business environment and uncertainties.

He said the Nasscom had desisted from revising the growth rates for the current financial year as nothing had changed since November 2016 when he announced that it would grow at 8-10 per cent.

“We will wait till May and analyse the primary data to assess the situation,” Gurnani, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Tech Mahindra, said.

He was here to take part in the inaugural of German automotive player ZF’s first ever technology centre here on Thursday. Tech Mahindra is a technology partner of ZF, developing technology solutions for the automobile industry.

Asked about the US President Donald Trump’s tough talk on immigration and on the likely Bill on H-1B visas, he said it was always there. “Haven’t we seen such bills earlier,” he asked.

In his speech two days ago, Trump had said he wanted highly skilled. “What are we? We provide smart capital. There is a shortage (for skills) in the US,” he pointed out.

He said the US needed India as much India needed the US. “No global company can survive selling domestically. The US constitutes 25 per cent of the world’s GDP. The US consumes only 30 per cent what the global companies there produce. Those firms would require futuristic technologies and innovation centres across the world,” he said.

Hiring target The Nasscom Chairman has hinted at lower hiring next year. Without giving numbers, he said the industry was in for a change. Many companies are regrouping themselves and re-architecting their journeys as automation, digital disruption and Artificial Intelligence impacting them.

Businesses growth and hiring were non-linear as efficiencies of IT professionals and client companies were increasing. “If growth of business of a company is 10 per cent, hiring growth would be only 5 per cent,” he said, giving an analogy on non-linear growth in hiring.

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