It’s a $70-billion (Rs 3.24 lakh crore) industry and still counting. It accounts for 5.8 per cent of India’s GDP and employs over 2.3 million people directly and eight million indirectly. It is not an exaggeration to suggest the Information Technology-Business Procss Outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry has put India on the world map in less than two decades. If the country is respected today as an emerging global powerhouse and a vibrant, high-growth economy; a fair share of the credit is due to the contribution made by the ICT Iinformation and communication technologies) industry over the years. Its per capita contribution, at nearly $32,000 (Rs 14.8 lakh) , is amongst the highest. With a base of over 10 million tax-paying people, the industry also boasts of a significant contribution to the country’s exchequer.
The ICT industry needs people – in huge numbers. And, these people need places to work and to live. The housing and real estate sector has benefitted significantly from the industry’s ever-increasing demand; it has actually struggled to keep pace with it. One of the side effects of the boom is a rapid increase in rental rates. That 62 per cent of formally-approved SEZs and 57 out of 98 functional ones are IT/ITeS-specific is a testimony to the fact on how the industry has impacted the realty sector’s landscape.
The ICT industry eats, breathes and lives on connectivity. Its mission-critical need for data interchange has played a role in growth of the telecom sector, too. Moreover, the impact of high consumer spending, coupled with deregulation of the telecom sector, which also meshed with the high growth of the IT sector, has contributed to overall growth. Understandably, consumer durables and retail are the other sectors which have benefited from the high disposable income levels and affluence. Yet again, the spirit of entrepreneurship is nowhere as pronounced, as it is here. Individuals with bright ideas have always attracted the right mix of private equity and venture funding that have helped create some path-breaking IPs.
Far more important, the ICT industry has directly or indirectly helped millions of young Indians find a meaningful career and wings to their dreams. Their professional success has inspired an entire generation that is more self-assured than any time in the past. That the ICT industry builds upon India’s demographic strengths – 70 per cent of India’s population is between 18-30 years – is one of the reasons that India’s economy continues to grow, compared to the rest of the world. Similarly, the industry’s innovation of scale, products, geographies, and business models is something the world is looking to imitate. Little surprise, therefore, that Indians today are confident of becoming global innovators.
What is more surprising is the speed with which this transformation has happened. Unlike any other high-impact industries, the ICT industry has come up almost within no time and continues to grow. The revolution, fortunately, is still ongoing and the results will continue to multiply. One of the key agendas for the industry, going forward, is to help Indian companies build a unique expertise in IT processes and systems; enabling them to take a leap forward on the world stage.
(The author is Chairman of Nasscom and President & CEO of Genpact India)