FY’17 may see 7-9% IT export revenue growth: Gopalakrishnan

Hyderabad, Sep 12 (PTI) India’s revenue growth in ITexports is expected to fall to single digit in the currentfiscal, says industry veteran Kris Gopalakrishnan. When asked about industry body NASSCOM forecasting 10-12per cent export growth, he said the growth is likely to be inthe range of seven to nine per cent. But he hastened to addthat it’s his "guesstimate" rather than an estimate. 2016-17 is not the most challenging year for the Indianindustry, but the year 2008 was, said the former President ofCII. In the short-term, growth for Indian IT companies isgoing to be unpredictable and choppy, and impact would becompany-specific depending on client spending, exposure to aparticular region and industry vertical, he said. He noted that even under the current tough and challengingtimes, Indian companies are the most profitable, and are stillgrowing. "Yes, the growth is less than before but they are stillgrowing," he told PTI in an interview. Gopalakrishnan, one of the co-chairs of the World EconomicForum in Davos in January 2014, said the impact of Brexitwould be felt over the next two-three years. Hiring in the IT industry would slow down and additionalfactors like increasing automation, artificial intelligenceand robotics are impacting recruitment, he said. "In the medium to long term, growth should come back. Anindustry which is about USD 150 billion, (including exports ofUSD 120 billion), growth of 7-8 per cent is a significantgrowth," said former CEO and MD of Infosys. In absolute terms, a USD 10 billion growth is significant,and it is more than what startups are adding in terms ofrevenue, he said. "In terms of recruitment, that USD 10 billion willtranslate to a lakh of jobs at least." In the medium to long term, Gopalakrishnan said he isoptimistic about the growth prospects of the Indian IT sector. "The industry has faced these challenges before and hascome out successfully and even these (current) challenges itwill manage. It will come out successfully, it has theexperience of 2008 which is not that far back," he said. Indian IT companies should focus on new growth areas interms of continued move to digitisation, artificialintelligence and Internet of Things, which are promising, andbuild relevant skills to create revenue streams in the areas. "That’s the reason I am optimistic about medium to longterm prospects of the industry," he said. PTI RS GKANURYS