Desi tech companies sharpen India focus

After being stung by the global recession and realising that the desi market is not just better insulated, but also robust and strong, domestic technology majors are sharpening their India focus.

A string of recent announcements by tier I tech companies that they would bid aggressively for government or private projects clearly suggest that India as a software market is too big to ignore.

According to a recent Gartner report, the overall Indian IT services market is pegged to grow to $10.73 billion by 2011 at a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.2%. Software services will constitute a fair chunk of that.

Clearly opportunities exist in areas like National e-Governance Plan or Unique Identification card project or servicing the operations of the growing telecom operators, an analyst with a tech major said. It is just that some companies were already here doing these quietly while others want to enhance their presence now. Isn’t a 20+% growth segment attractive, he said.

Unlike many, Wipro has always maintained a sharp and dedicated focus on the domestic IT market. Wipro’s India and Middle East business unit, Wipro Infotech, has been working on the domestic IT market for over two decades, said Anand Sankaran, who heads Wipro’s India and Middle East operations. For Wipro, India has always been an important market and we have a huge presence in India with revenues to the tune of $1 billion and growing.

Government has emerged as one of the leading IT spenders in recent times. Be it ESICs Project Panchdeep which is aimed at improving healthcare or big ticket deals with BSNL and LIC, all these bids now see desi majors bidding aggressively.

Apart from bidding for projects in traditional areas of strength like BFSI, companies are also focusing on emerging opportunity sectors like IT infrastructure, power and utilities.