Nasscom: Indian outsourcing back on the up?

The Nasscom India Leadership Forum—the flagship event of IT lobby group Nasscom - has kicked off in Mumbai with delegates clearly relieved to see the back of a year that was overshadowed by the Satyam scandal as well as recessionary pressures.

Attendance this year is up, reflecting a continued interest from abroad in the cost-efficiencies and performance gains that Indian outsourcing firms can offer. “This is the highest number of registered users for the Leadership Summit. The 2009 summit had 1,300 registered users and in 2008 there were 1,500 participants. There is a huge interest among the industry across regions. Clearly signalling the end of the recession,” said Sangeetha Gupta, vice-president, Nasscom.

“This year [the conference] is more about new opportunities, geographies and verticals. For instance, when we chose to showcase the new geographies, it is not just because there is an opportunity for Indian IT industry there but also because these countries have shown interest in the India IT services,,” she added. “We have always had foreign delegations, but this time there is an equal participation from developed and emerging markets. We have delegates from Germany, UK, Australia and Japan, as well as Latin America, Poland, Egypt and even Pakistan.”

But there is still concern about protectionism within some geographies, a thinly-veiled way of saying that the Indian industry is concerned about some of US President Barack Obama's anti-outsourcing rhetoric. Obama has proposed removing tax breaks and actively penalising US firms that ship jobs abroad. "The environment for growth is good. But, given the global economic uncertainty, we must make sure there is no move in the direction of protectionism," commented Nascomm Chairman Pramod Bhasin.

There was also considerable emphasis placed on the role of outsourcing in the public sector. "Last year, lenders entered Indian market with special thrust on government projects. We believe that a focused initiative through Nasscom can help the government realise the objectives of inclusive growth by leveraging ICT,” argued Nasscom President Som Mittal. "Last year, at the same time, the industry was in the middle of the economic crisis and unsure of when the economy would rebound. Today, we have logged out of the 'pause mode' and are in a 'play mode'. We have to now look at going towards a 'fast forward mode'."