Global Software Companies Eyeing India

Worried about the growing software piracy in some Asian countries, the world's top computer product companies are being drawn to India with its reliable legal system and large pool of highly skilled experts.

The well-publicised view of Bill Gates, chief of US-based software giant Microsoft at Davos that India could become a software superpower was echoed by Andrew Grove, president of computer chip leader Intel Inc.

Both Gates and Grove said their companies were eyeing India as a major source for software products. Chiefs of other computer companies agreed.

Indian software craftsmanship has become, almost overnight, a prime commodity of the information age, said a US-based software buyer, adding that like Gates and Grove, other US companies were also planning to source their software products from India.

Both Gates and Grove voiced concern over the spread of software counterfeit and piracy in a number of Asian countries. They singled out China while noting that South Korea and Taiwan had made progress in controlling software piracy. Microsoft plans to source software from Bangalore.

Announcing that he would soon visit India, Gates said he would visit the country's software capital. Also known as India's Silicon Valley, Bangalore is a popular software production centre for many Western computer applications companies. For most software buyers in the West, specially in the US and Germany, the low wages of Indian software engineers are a major attraction.