One of the biggest contributors to India’s economic growth is the country’s IT sector. The contributions made by this sector towards the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has helped sustain steady growth and put India on the world map, as one of the preferred choices for IT investors. The country has done a great deal to develop an environment that fosters innovation and outsourcing, with large corporations like Accenture and Google setting up offices.
The growth of the IT industry in India is a good thing not just for the country’s workforce, but also for skilled experts looking to thrive in a competitive environment. Helped by professional consultancy firms such as Procorre, both consultants and clients are finding opportunities across the country and helping shape the next phase of growth.
An explosion of growth in the IT industry has led to the transformation of the Indian economy, with much of the gains made in the provision of IT services. It is estimated that IT services are 3-4 times cheaper than other countries, which is the value proposition in attracting global interest. However, the country is also gaining a lot of interest for its intellectual capital, with a number of global IT companies looking to set up innovation centres.
India’s IT industry is segmented into four areas – Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), IT services, hardware, and software products/engineering services. India has become one of the top destinations for IT-enabled services (ITES), with revenues from this segment going into the tens of billions. India is a worthy competitor to the likes of China, Australia, and Canada when it comes to parameters such as quality of the labour force, the cost of labour, project management skills, and overall ability to deliver quality.
Because of the country’s geographic position and time zone, it is able to provide 24/7 services to other countries, an offering that many companies would struggle to provide using local providers. Additionally, India is a key player in the growth of research and development (R&D) efforts in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by hosting some of the top R&D spenders in the world. These efforts have been boosted by various government initiatives such as the establishment of tax-free zones, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) that have encouraged IT export services.
Even though other competitors (China, Vietnam, Philippines) are emerging as low-cost alternatives, India’s position remains solid thanks to its ability to provide a highly skilled workforce, its knowledge of quality, and long-term cost-effectiveness. Because of this, salaries in the Indian IT sector continue to be among the highest. According to a survey done online job portal Monster.com, IT sector employees are the highest paid (346.42 rupees per hour) compared to employees in the banking (300.23 rupees per hour) and manufacturing (254.04 rupees per hour) sectors.
It is clear that India’s IT sector has plenty to offer investors and employees alike. The next post in the series takes a closer look at what investors can expect from the industry.
Procorre 