Nasscom pegs IT-BPM sector revenue at $192 bn

Mumbai: The Indian IT and Business Process Management (BPM) sector's revenue is estimated to grow at 8.4 per cent in FY20 on a constant currency basis to $192 billion, and the industry continues to remain "cautiously optimistic" about the future, industry body Nasscom said on Wednesday.

On a reported number basis, the growth inclusive of other factors like currency depreciation has inched up to 7.7 per cent in FY20 from the 7 per cent growth in FY19, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said.

Nasscom, which discontinued its practice of giving a number on the outlook last year, said the growth in FY20 came on the back of a 23 per cent increase in the new-age digital revenues and added that the industry was able to add 2.05 lakh jobs on a net basis.

The IT sector is one of the biggest contributors of export revenues on the services front for the Indian economy, and also a major job creator which has fuelled the Indian middle class over the last two decades on the back of a steady supply of engineering graduates.

Nasscom's Chairman Keshav Murugesh told reporters that the industry growth has gone to 7.7 per cent on a reported revenue basis from the 7 per cent growth in the year ago period despite headwinds like Brexit and protectionist tendencies in major economies of the world.

However, on the outlook front, he said the industry continues to be "cautiously optimistic" and added that it will work on re-skilling of the 4.36 million talent base going forward.

Second largest software exporter Infosys' chief operating officer Pravin Rao said there is no clarity yet on the exact impact of the corona virus outbreak in China, but added that there can be an indirect impact on the industry as its clients get impacted because of the outbreak in China, which is an important part of the global supply chain.

A survey of 100 chief executives of enterprises across sizes done by Nasscom revealed that 53 per cent of them expecting a similar to stronger world economy in 2020, while 60 per cent of them feel spends will grow in developed markets.

The IT services sector contributed the highest share of revenues at $97 billion, reporting a growth of 6.7 per cent, followed by e-commerce sector which grew 25 per cent to $54 billion, it said.

The BPM industry revenues grew 8.2 per cent to $38 billion and domestic revenues grew 6.5 per cent to $44 billion. The sector generated total exports of $147 billion, which were up 8.1 per cent on a reported number basis, the annual data said.

At present, Indian IT companies are investing up to 1.5 per cent of their overall $191 billion as skilling is the key objective, the data said, adding that over 8 lakh employees were trained in digital skill sets in FY20.

India is home to over 9,000 startups, of which 27 have achieved the 'unicorn' status by commanding a valuation of over $1 billion, it said, adding that the new enterprises got over $4 billion in funding in FY20.