India:TCS sees double-digit growth for industry


Kolkata, Dec. 21

Mr S. Ramadorai, Vice-Chairman of TCS, today projected double digit growth for the IT industry on the back of more than seven per cent projected GDP growth in the current year, pointing out that the industry was coming out of the effects of recent downturn and had started recruitment.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the CII-organised national conference on leadership here on Monday, Mr Ramadorai said the downturn had helped the industry learn things such as functioning efficiently in a period of crisis and achieving proper utilisation of manpower and sharpening skills.

The challenges before the industry would now be to convert the deal pipeline into concrete orders and ensure timely and consistent delivery.

“Yesterday's success is no guarantee for tomorrow and price is not the differential,” he observed, adding, “it is the value and quality that make all the difference.”

Emphasising the need for localisation of IT application, he said with digitisation spreading to tier-II and III cities, the application must take place in local languages and pointed out that the rural sector held out big opportunities.

Earlier, he said TCS' Project mKrishi was helping farmers in some districts in Maharashtra access localised information and advice on agricultural issues through graphic and voice format in local languages.

“They can send queries through voice messages on weather updates, when the plant, seeds, soil composition, etc and receive in return advice from experts and this experiment, if successful, has a huge potential to scale up,” he said.

Threat to outsourcing

Discounting the possibility of India facing serious threat in outsourcing, he said, “I am of the firm belief that outsourcing of knowledge is here to stay and will in the future be accelerated to preserve and increase competitive advantage India still offers western countries a significant differential with the right blend of workers.”

SOURCE: THE HINDUBUSINESSLINE