Software, services exports up 32%

Software and services exports, including IT enabled services (ITeS), are estimated to have reached Rs 29,500 crore in the quarter ended June 2006, an increase of 32.29 per cent compared with the exports in the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC).

As per the ESC's projection, computer software and services exports, including ITeS, will increase to Rs 1,40,000 crore, up by 33 per cent over the previous year's figure of Rs 1,05,000 crore.

"We expect the pace of growth to accelerate in the subsequent quarters since an increasing number of Indian IT companies are now focusing on value-added services," said ESC Executive Director D K Sareen.

In the case of computer hardware, the estimated export for the quarter April-June 2006 is Rs 2,000 crore, which is a 25 per cent growth over the same period last fiscal.

The ESC has projected exports worth Rs 11,500 crore for 2006-07, of which 21.4 per cent has already been achieved. ESC envisages an annual growth rate of 19 per cent in the hardware sector.