India Lowers Software Export Forecast

BOMBAY — The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has lowered India’s software export growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 40-45 percent from 52 percent, thanks to economic slowdown in the US market.

Its chairman Phiroz Vandrewala has announced on Sunday that he felt the software export growth could be dipped up to 40 percent mark.

Nasscom had in January forecast that software exports during 2001-02 (April-March) would jump to $9.4 billion from $6.2 billion in the previous ear.

It was Nasscom that created a feeling within the country, which went a long way in putting the software industry on a high pedestal. It was Nasscom that made a vision statement for the industry by commissioning a study and effectively going to town with the results: a target of $ 50 billion of software exports by 2008.

Indian software services firms have grown by more than 50 percent in recent years, but progress has now been curbed by a US slowdown. The latter has forced leading software services firms – some of which had reported profit growth of more than 100 percent – to issue earnings warnings and in turn some equity research firms have downgraded tech stocks.

Nasscom, unlike other industry associations and chambers of commerce was a one-man show, in the sense that a single individual – Dewang Mehta – loomed large. With the sudden demise of Dewang Mehta, the showman is no more. Now, what will happen to Nasscom? wonder industry observers.