Nasscom sees FY18 industry growth at 8-10%

Software services industry lobby Nasscom on Thursday said it expects the sector to grow at 8-10 per cent next financial year (FY) but added that a clearer picture will emerge only over the next two to three months.

"We gave the projection to media last November. Now between November and February...Now March, not much has changed that I can change my projection. So, I have given the projection on behalf of Nasscom that the growth will be 8 to 10 per cent," Nasscom chairman C P Gurnani told reporters.

"All I am saying is that we will wait till the fourth quarter results, after which we will have a better understanding of primary data. As soon as we get that, we compile it and will comeback to you in May with our forecast," the Tech Mahindra chief executive said.

It can be noted that Nasscom had revised down its FY17 revenue growth target to 8-10 per cent from an initial 10-12 per cent as the headwinds from the US, which is the single largest revenue source for the industry, started emerging following the election of Donald Trump.

At the Nasscom leadership forum in the middle of last month, where the industry traditionally used to give out its growth forecast, the industry lobby delayed its estimate to May citing the many emerging headwinds.

According to Gurnani, many domestic IT companies may change their business strategies and regroup themselves owing to newer trends such as increasing automation artificial intelligence, digital data and digital disruption.

"At the same time, there is a feeling within Nasscom that the industry is going to change. It is going to change because of automation, artificial intelligence, digital data and digital disruption. So, many companies will regroup themselves and re-architect their journey forward," he said.

When asked about the developments in the US regarding immigration rules, he said, "if we start getting ahead of ourselves, we will be getting unnecessarily worried. The US needs us as much as we need them".

On the falling hiring trends, he said the current trend suggests that job accretion will be at best half of its growth in recent years.