Exports to grow in the range of 7-8%; Domestic revenues to accelerate faster at 10-11%

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today announced that the growth outlook for the IT industry in FY18 at 10-11% for domestic market and 7-8% for exports, citing improvements in financial services and high potential in digital businesses as key drivers. This outlook comes on the back of political and economic uncertainties that impacted decision making and discretionary spend during the past year. NASSCOM also cited an increase in requirement for integrated digital capabilities and automation based projects from customers, which were key investment areas for the industry.

 NASSCOM highlighted the industry’s position as a net hirer with the demand for technology skilled professionals growing in the sector and across other sectors as well. The industry body stated that it was however imperative for new and existing talent to reskill themselves to prepare for emerging job roles which required new skill sets. The fiscal year will see growth driven by the modernization of operations for client firms and the adoption of new technologies such as SaaS applications, cloud platforms, BI, cognitive and embedded analytics as  enterprise customers scale digital projects.

Speaking on the industry growth outlook Mr. Raman Roy, Chairman, NASSCOM, said, “The IT-PM industry in India continues to demonstrate a sustained growth index. The industry has continuously reinvented itself and its performance in FY 2017 showcases how the industry has focused on building its digital solution offerings through a combination of business model changes and investment in products and platforms.”

Mr. R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “Manoeuvring through an uncertain phase over the past year, the industry has maintained its status as a key net hirer in the country and global technology and services hub. Considering the evolution that the industry is undergoing due to the adoption of new technologies, it is imperative that we as an industry drive the skilling and reskilling of new and existing talent, so as to ensure the requirement that will be created in the form of new job roles can be fulfilled appropriately and in time, helping us prepare for the future opportunities.”

An interesting takeaway from the analysis of the sector performance in FY 2017 was the relatively fast adoption of digital solutions by Indian enterprise. The domestic market is expected to grow faster than the export market in FY 2018 driven by this trend. 

Company also stated some key initiatives that the apex body has been actively building to help accelerate the digital opportunity in the export and domestic market. With a renewed focus on new technologies, the industry body is setting up CEOs across India towards enhancing cyber security, IOT, design and data sciences capabilities. With India making strides in the entrepreneurship domain, NASSCOM 10,000 start-ups initiatives is also further enhancing its offerings by connecting entrepreneurs with large companies to leverage innovation. Outreach to newer markets too will be a top most priority, with a focus on showcasing digital solutions in geographies like Japan, Germany, China, Middle East and Africa.