The Indian information technology sector has been instrumental in driving the nation's economy onto the rapid growth curve. According to the Nasscom-Deloitte study, the IT/ITES industry's contribution to the country's GDP has increased to a share of 5.2 per cent in 2007, as against 1.2 per cent in 1998.

Further, the IT and BPO industries are poised to clock revenues worth US$ 64 billion by the end of fiscal year 2008, registering a growth of 33 per cent, according to a study. Simultaneously, the Indian IT services market is estimated to remain the fastest growing in the Asia Pacific region with a CAGR of 18.6 per cent, according to a study by Springboard Research.

India's IT growth in the world is primarily dominated by IT software and services such as Custom Application Development and Maintenance (CADM), System Integration, IT Consulting, Application Management, Infrastructure Management Services, Software testing, Service-oriented architecture and Web services.

A report by the Electronics and Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) estimates software exports to register a 33 per cent growth in the current financial year with export figures during FY 2008 expected to reach US$ 45 billion. The country's IT exports have, in fact, come quite far, starting from a few million dollars in the early 1990s. The Government expects the exports turnover to touch US$ 80 billion by 2011, growing at an annual rate of 30 per cent per annum.

Outsourcing

A research by Gartner forecasts India as the undisputed leader in the outsourcing space in the year 2008. The Outsourcing Service Provider Performance Study 2007, undertaken by sourcing advisory firm Equa Terra, reported that the majority of UK businesses offshore all or parts of their IT functions to India and plan to continue with this strategy as India emerged the favorite outsourcing destination for businesses in UK in terms of satisfaction.

Another study conducted by Nasscom jointly with the Everest consulting firm reports the Indian outsourcing sector logged a 35 percent annual growth over the last five years with annual revenues touching US$ 11 billion, with the bulk coming from exports. India has ousted China as a contender for offshore services and tops the list of 30 countries on criteria’s such as language, government support, labour pool, infrastructure, educational system, cost, political and economic environment, cultural compatibility, global and legal maturity, and data and intellectual property security and privacy.

No wonder, twenty-nine India-based companies have been listed among the best 100 IT service providers in a new survey carried out with a view to assist business heads of major outsourcers identify reliable, innovative and tech savvy partners.