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    Nasscom trims software services growth projection to 10-12%

    Synopsis

    The industry just managed to grow at the lower end of the revenue guidance, clocking increase of 12.3 per cent in the current fiscal in exports.

    ET Bureau
    NEW DELHI: Indian information technology lobby group National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) on Thursday said it expects Indian IT exports to grow 10-12% in constant currency terms in FY17, lagging behind the 12-14% growth forecast it had made for the current year (FY16).

    This is the third straight year of declining growth projections. It is also the first time in the last five years that the lower end of growth is expected to be as low as 10% — just about making the cut for double-digit growth.

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    In FY16, export revenues grew by 12.3% in constant currency, just meeting the lower end of Nasscom’s expectations, to an estimated $108 billion. Domestic revenues grew at 10% reaching a total of Rs 1,410 billion. BVR Mohan Reddy, Chairman, Nasscom said that despite the political uncertainty in major global economies of the world, the currency fluctuations and the changing nature of the business, the industry has still sustained a double digit growth. “The velocity of change has increased, but the predictability has gone down,” he added.

    Image article boday


    ET had reported earlier this week that Nasscom may forecast lower growth numbers for FY17 compared to its estimates of 12-14% growth last year, as economic uncertainty exacerbated by plunging oil prices, plummeting Chinese markets hurt the Indian IT sector.

    Overall, the industry is expected to clock in revenues of $160 billion in FY2016, including the contribution of ecommerce. However, despite the headwinds, Nasscom is certain to meet its target of reaching $350 billion by 2025, given the emergence of new technologies such as internet of things, analytics, social media and so on.

    In the coming financial year, the Information Technology-Business Process Management (ITBPM) industry’s export revenue is expected to grow by 10-12%, reaching revenues of $119-121 billion. Revenue in the domestic market is expected to grow by 11-13% to Rs 1,560-1,590 billion in FY2017.

    But it is not all gloomy, yet. Nasscom expects the growth in domestic market to be driven by ecommerce. While the growth in the domestic IT-BPM sector was 10%, including ecommerce, it is expected to be 16.5% in the current financial year. Domestic growth is also likely to be spurred by large government projects such as Aadhaar and GST.

    The BPM, which is likely to close the year with revenues of $28 billion, is expected to grow 8.8%, while engineering R&D and product development is expected to grow 12.6%.

    The IT industry added 2 lakh employees in FY2016 reaching a total employee base of 37 lakh, said Nasscom.
    The Economic Times

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