India lost 10% share in global BPO mkt to China, Brazil in 5yrs

Says India faces stiff competition from several emerging countries in the BPO sector

India has lost about 10% share of the global BPO market in the last five years to destinations like China, the Philippines and Brazil, raising concerns for the $20-billion Indian BPO industry.

The pre-budget Economic Survey 2012-13, which was tabled in Parliament today, said India faces stiff competition from several emerging countries in the BPO sector.

It called for information campaigns by the industry to dispel the myths and fears about outsourcing in the developed economies.

Countries like Malaysia, China and the Philippines in Asia; Egypt and Morocco in North Africa; Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Columbia in Latin America; and Poland and Ireland in Europe are emerging as attractive destinations for voice contracts, posing a significant threat to Indian firms, it said.

"According to Nasscom, in the last five years, India has lost about 10% market share to the rest of the world in the world BPO space, most of which is in the voice contract segment," it said.

According to industry body Nasscom, in FY13, IT services would account for $50 billion, while Business Process Management (BPM or BPO) and Engineering services would contribute $20 billion and $10 billion, respectively.

In terms of competition, though China faces challenges like language proficiency, it is making large investments in the mission mode to increase English proficiency.

"Thus, (China) may eventually emerge as a threat to India," it added.

The Philippines, which is the second largest destination for outsourcing, is also a serious competitor having developed both the hardware and software segments of IT.

Outsourcing has become a national issue in many developed countries like the US and the UK, who are supporting the local BPO industry through various means.

"In such a situation, the Indian BPO industry needs to gear up to address the challenges. Information campaigns to dispel the myths and fears about outsourcing needs to be undertaken by the industry in the developed economies," it said.

In the overall IT and IT-enabled services space, new competitors like China, Israel and the Philippines have emerged in recent years.

Between 2005 and 2011, the annual average growth of IT-ITeS services was 69% in the Philippines, 28% in Sri Lanka, 59% in Ukraine, 27% in the Russian Federation, 37% in Argentina and 35% in Costa Rica.

"Even if in some cases the export values are relatively low, the average annual growth of computer services in these economies is well above the average of the top exporters," it said.