Indian potential lures migrant software professionals

Feb 16: In view of the amazing growth in India's software exports and a record boost on the revenue from his sector, the software profession...

Feb 16: In view of the amazing growth in India8217;s software exports and a record boost on the revenue from his sector, the software professionals who migrated to the West a decade ago, is now looking to cash in on the stupendous potential of the country in this sector. This attitudinal shift may result in a marked departure from the earlier trend of competent software professionals migrating from India to West.

According to NASSCOM, it is estimated that by the year 2000, India will witness a spate of professional home-comings with technical and entrepreneurial expertise and also a 50 per cent increase in the number of software development centres.

The export boom in the software industry has been mainly attributed to the increased demand for Indian software in the international market. Low labour cost coupled with optimum use of human resources have enabled Indian software makers to offer their products at low prices in comparison to foreign competitors.

Closing the first nine months of the currentfinancial year with export worth Rs. 4850 crore, India has registered a growth of 70 per cent over the exports in corresponding period of last year. The Indian software industry, the NASSCOM estimated, would amass Rs. 10,000 crore by the end of the JFM quarter of this fiscal. 8220;It would even touch Rs. 17,000 crore by 1998-99 and Rs. 24,000 crore by the end of 2000,8221; says Dewang Mehta, executive director of NASSCOM.

The software industry in India, which is growing at a rate of 55 per cent currently, is likely to grown even faster in the next three years as few more companies with additional technical expertise and entrepreneurial skill would join the handwagon by then. 8220;In the last five years, tremendous opportunities have opened up in India for software professionals, hence the brain-drain from the country has become an old phenomenon8221; Mehta adds to stress the possibility of an industrial boom in the segment in the near future.

Analysing the export performance of the country in the first threequarters of 1997-98, Mehta says that out of the top twenty companies in the software exports this period, 14 are purely Indian companies and as much as 82 per cent of the exported software are made by Indian professionals. Among the major exporters TCS, Wipro, NIIT, Pentafour Software amp; Exports, Infosys Technologies, Tata Infotech, Satyam Computer Systems and DSQ Software top the list. Currently, India8217;s major export destinations are the US, Europe and Japan. Besides Korea, South Africa, Scandinavia and West Asia are markets India would be focussed on in the near future.

Earning a total forex of Rs. 6,800 crore, the software industry now contributes three per cent of the total export earnings of the country and if the estimated growth is achieved, the industry would constitute 20 per cent of India8217;s exports by 2002.