US will be back on growth track, India needs to act together, says Bagchi

Clear picture on the industry will be available after meeting of Nasscom

The election of President Barack Obama has settled down quite a lot of speculations, and the US market is expected to be back to the growth track soon while it is now the time for India, especially the central government to get its acts together to grab this market, said Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and chairman of MindTree Ltd.

He said that a clear picture on the industry would be available after a meeting of National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) in February, next year.

Speaking to the reporters in the sidelines of the TiECon Chennai 2012, an event for entrepreneurs and investors, organised by TiE Chennai, Bagchi, who is also a member of the Governing Council of the Software Technology Parks of India, said, "I think that a few things are behind us now. The election of President Obama has settled down quite a lot of speculations. We think that US will be back on growth track. And when US will be back it has its implications on other parts of the world. I think it is time for us to get our act together."

 

Beyond the IT industry, the government has to get its act together. "For every one step we take forward, we take two steps backward. It is very important for the government to clear the issues related to governance, with that there is no reason why we cannot look forward to a strong future," he added.

It is to be noted that in November 12, this year, Nasscom has announced that amid a volatile and challenging global economic environment, the India IT-BPM industry has sustained its growth trajectory during the year.

"For FY13, a year marked by significantly varied trends, the industry is expected to meet the lower-end of its growth guidance and at least achieve a double-digit growth," it said. The growth guidance the organisation has earlier given out was that the IT industry, which is around $100 billion, is expected to grow at a range of 11-14%. The revenue from IT exports is estimated at $75-77 billion for the year, Nasscom said.

The market has changed and there is a need for more localisation as a global business. For instance, MindTree recently opened an all-American centre in Florida which is meant to creat jobs in America for America. "The way that we are looking at is after its success we would like to replicate in other parts in US," he added. The company is planning to have at least 400 people in the Florida office in future.
 
He said that the demands of the customers have also changed, and are now looking at firms meeting their requirements even before the client asks for it.
 
"We see US certainly coming out of the slowness. We see the UK growing, we definitely see Europe growing. However, it will not be business as usual. A reboundness asks for newer way of works," he said. The newer ways includes looking at opportunities on co-innovating, create go-to-market strategy with the customers, could be in terms of building more risk reward basis in operations with the customers, and it could also mean that the company has to build ideas before what the customer seeks for an idea, he said.