Set up overseas investment body: Raju

Voicing concern over the weakening dollar and its adverse impact on the IT industry, Satyam Computer Services Chairman B Ramalinga Raju has asked the government to set up a special body to invest overseas.

"The industry is concerned about the rapid weakening of the dollar. If the government does not take adequate steps towards forming a separate body to invest overseas, the Indian IT industry would lose out the opportunities to other countries," Raju, also Nasscom vice-chairman, said.

He was addressing the inaugural session of Infocom 2007, the country's largest information communication technology (ICT) conference and exposition, which started in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The event will end on December 1.

Around 60 per cent of Satyam's revenues is from overseas, in dollars. The IT services industry is estimated to be $32 trillion, of which 70 per cent is expected to be delivered on the virtual platform in the next 20 years, Raju said.

"The Indian IT industry grew from $100 million in 1999 to touch $100 billion by 2010. With the growing level of services delivered on the virtual platform, the IT industry is poised to touch $1 trillion by 2020," he added.