Focus to be on HRD: Nasscom vice-chairman

Raju spells out his Nasscom agenda

Satyam Computer Services Limited's founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju now has a new responsibility. As the vice-chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) for 2005-06, Raju has a clear agenda on his mind with regard to the growth path of the Indian IT industry.

Speaking to Business Standard after assuming the post at Nasscom, Raju outlines his views on where the Indian IT industry stands today vis-a-vis its global competitors and what can take it forward in the near future.

"The Indian software and services industry has created one million jobs today. This apart, our software and services exports have also touched the $18-billion mark. The industry has, therefore, attained a critical mass today as compared to the performance in the last 15 years," Raju says.

Stressing on the need to maintain the growth momentum of the services industry, he says, "The services industry is growing faster than many other industries in the world today and if we need to maintain this momentum, we should realise that innovation is going to play a key role. The need of the hour, therefore, is to strengthen the physical, financial and human relations (HR) infrastructure in the industry," he says.

"HR development is one of the important initiatives of Nasscom and we will ensure that there is greater interaction between the industry and academia for better results," Raju adds.

Raju believes that the much-talked about issue of attrition in the industry is actually an addressable one.

"The issue of attrition would have assumed greater proportions had it been something that cannot be addressed. We just need to realise what the industry needs are and find answers to these questions," he adds.

The Nasscom vice-chairman feels that there is a dearth of quality faculty in IT institutes even though there are enough IT professionals around.

"There are a lot of institutions in India churning out IT professionals in huge numbers. This means that there is a lot of talent here but it is in an unrefined form. We need to address this issue to ensure that the available talent is ready for the industry," Raju says. "And for this, we need to focus on the dearth of quality faculty at such institutes," he adds.

Barring this issue, Raju is happy with the performance of the Indian IT industry. "The state of the Indian IT industry is good and if we see in absolute terms, its growth has been the highest as compared to the last few years," he says.

"And now that the Indian companies are increasingly focussing on servicing the international markets, what we need to ensure is that we adopt a global mindset. This can be possible by greater collaboration with foreign companies," Raju says, adding that he, therefore, sees more mergers and acquisitions taking place between Indian and foreign companies in the coming years.