Outsourcing here to stay: economist

Outsourcing is here to stay and any service which is templated can be outsourced was the moot point of raised by Ajit Ranade, chief economist, Aditya Birla group at the Infocom 2004.

Speaking on BPO in financial services, Ranade said the total value of financial services was at $2.3 trillion, a little less than India's gross domestic product (GDP).

According to Ranade, nearly 15 per cent of $2.3 trillion would be outsourced, which implies that $214 billion worth of services will be offshored.

Highlighting the importance of the financial services sector and its potential, Ranade said, the service sector accounted for 56 per cent of GDP, out of which the financial services sector was at 11 per cent.

"Financial services sector is one of the most IT-intensive sectors and comprises of segments concerned primarily with banking, insurance and capital markets," he said.

He further added that the scope of the BPO industry would increase as more and more things would become tradeable.