IT to post 31.6 pc growth in 2004-05

‘‘The Indian IT industry would cross $28.3 billion (Rs 1,24,500 crore) in 2004-05, thanks to the growth in IT-enabled services (ITeS) and IT Services and software,’’ Kiran Karnik, President of National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) told reporters on Wednesday.

The country’s software and services exports registered a growth of 33 per cent for the fiscal 2003-04 clocking a revenue of $12.8 billion. The software and services exports are likely to witness 35 per cent growth to reach revenues of $17.3 billion in fiscal 2004-05. The total software and services revenue (export and domestic) is expected to be $22.2 billion for 2004-05.

The mix of offshore and onsite has also tilted in favour of offshore, which in turn means that clients are more confident about getting jobs done in India-based centres. ‘‘Consultancy is still a big area were clients prefer more onsite presence. Otherwise the offshore and onsite ratio in fiscal 2004-05 (estimated) could stand at 71:29 per cent,’’ Karnik said.

Infrastructure woes

: India may be world class in technology but our infrastructure is still primitive at its best. And who would know — and experience — that better than Nasscom President Kiran Karnik himself. ‘‘Infrastructure is still a bottleneck for us, some work is happening but I don’t understand why the Government is so slow at getting work done,’’ he confessed.