The success story of the Indian IT industry has been told over and over again. However, it is far from over. It was yet another year of excitement and triumph for the IT corporates. While Oracle's acquisition of i-flex reinforced the importance of Indian IT industry, TCS and Infosys together put the country's IT scenario on the global platform by bagging the prestigious $400 mn ABN Amro deal. Forecasts are also encouraging for the sector. IT exports are likely to grow by 30-32% (in dollar terms) for the financial year 2005-06 and are expected to touch $50 bn by 2008 from the present $20 bn. By 2010, the sector is expected to contribute 7% to the country's GDP compared to the present 3%. Since it's raining profits everywhere, investments and expansions seem to be the in-thing for the industry.
The year 2005 was very eventful for the Indian IT industry. It was marked by a slew of expansion plans, mergers and acquisitions, new start-ups, and extensive changes in business models by both domestic and foreign companies. On the domestic front, industry biggies like Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, and Satyam, set up their branches and subsidiaries abroad. TCS entered the UK insurance and pension market by bagging a deal worth $847 mn from Pearl Group, the biggest one ever for an Indian company. Also, among the mid-rung companies, i-flex, Mphasis, Mastek, Cognizant, Tata Tech, Infotech, and Patni computers are some of the companies that made overseas forays in order to build or strengthen their footprints in the world market and enter new areas of business.
At the same time, enthused by the growth opportunities in India, several MNCs also have either increased their presence or have set up shop in India. iNautix, a provider of global technology solutions, HID Corp, the US-based access control cards major, Aspire Systems, which develops technology products, Verisign, the network and Internet infrastructure service provider, to name a few, have entered India during the last year. Apart from these, global IT giants Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Semindia, Cisco, and Flextronics have made announcements that they will make investments of up to $8 bn in the next 3-5 years.
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