'IT sector needs products to meet $300 bn target'

Infosys Executive Co-Chairman Kris Gopalakrishna on Wednesday said IT industry should create new products and revenue streams to achieve the $300 billion revenue target by 2020.

“We must always set an aspirational target so that we stretch ourselves. We should think outside the box and look at new ways of doing things,” he told reporters here at BangaloreIT.biz 2012. Kris said the industry is expanding and has to look at other, newer avenues of generating revenues, services and solutions.

“The industry should mull on creating an eco-system for creating products. If you do all these things, I am confident we can achieve the target of $300 billion revenue,” he said. He said that in the last few years the industry has increased the thrust in domestic market and Infosys is doing interesting projects with banks, income tax and Karnataka electricity departments.

“Domestic business is growing faster than the company average which is what we have to look at from the basis point. Over time in three years the base will become large enough to have an impact on the topline,” he added. Replying to a query, Kris said the central government is spending about Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 crore on e-governance projects over the next few years which is a very significant number and provides a huge opportunity for entire industry.

“I strongly believe that it is an opportunity for companies around the world because there will be significant opportunities in India,” he said. Kris added that this is a reason the central government wants to promote hardware because otherwise India will be spending hugely on importing it.

“One estimate says we will be importing hardware of up to $300 billion. So if you can create domestic hardware manufacturing facility. One we will reduce our imports. Second we will create a large number of jobs,” he said.

Asked if the industry was geared up to match this requirement, Kris said it is not, the industry has to gear up. “I am confident that the industry will gear up. If you look at the past, the industry has made the turnaround. The industry and government have to work together and take advantage of the opportunity,” he said.

Kris said issues of infrastructure, education and entrepreneurship should be addressed by the government to make policy implementation effective. “Issues of supply of talent, policy framework should also be addressed to make sure that implementation policy is consistent. Lot of cases are before the tribunals and income tax disputes. If we can accelerate these things, speed up the velocity of the business, industry will definitely do its part,” he said.