IT sector growth up 38 pc in 1999-2000

IT sector growth up 38 pc in 1999-2000
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, AUG 7: Although many analysts predicted a post Y2K slowdown in India's software and services business, the IT industry witnessed a 38 per cent growth to touch Rs 33,052 crore in 1999-2000 with IT giant HCL group accounting for a significant Rs 2,922 crore during the period, a survey has said.

While the domestic market clocked a Rs 17,002 crore, showing a healthy 29 per cent growth, the export segment grew an exponential 49 per cent to clock Rs 16,050 crore, the survey on IT industry performance by Dataquest said.

Although by virtue of contribution towards the total IT revenue HCL followed by Tata emerged as the top groups, it was Bangalore-based Wipro which led the IT industry in individual company rankings with revenues touching Rs 2,036 crore. Company-wise, the top five include Wipro (Rs 2035.7 cror), Tata Consultancy Service (Rs 2,033.9 crore), IBM India (Rs 1,182.4 crore), Tech Pacific (Rs 1,171 crore) and Hewlett-Packard (Rs 1,137 crore). Infosys has got the ninth ranking with a revenue of Rs 882 crore.

"Although HCL's three companies at Rs 2,922 crore were ahead of Tatas by Rs 110 crore, in individual ranking it was a tight battle for the number one slot between Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with Wipro ahead by just Rs 2 crore," it said.

Other highlights of the survey included crossing of the million mark by desktop Personal Computers (PCs), growing at about 45 per cent in unit sales, it said adding "HCL (1,01,500 PCs sold) continued to dominate the branded PC market, followed by Compaq (79,484 PCs) and HP (63,000)".

During the period, the domestic hardware market grew by 58 per cent to touch Rs 9,538 crore. Also with the Tandons back in action, the industry saw hardware exports shooting up by 576 per cent to touch Rs 446 crore from the earlier Rs 66 crore, it added.

IT meet on Aug 10: For implementation of various plans related to IT and telecom announced by the Prime Minister including opening up of national long distance (NLD) market, the PM's office has convened a high-level inter ministerial meeting here on August 10.

The PMO has asked secretaries of IT, Communication and I&B ministries to attend the meeting which would deliberate upon the implementation procedure of various incentives announced by the PM during State IT Minsters' conference held on July 15, official sources said here. The meeting which is expected to be attended by officials from Ministry of Finance, would also discuss the corporatisation of Department of Telecom Services (DTS) scheduled for October this year, they said.

Other issues that would figure in the meeting include direct accessibility of submarine bandwidth by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), they added. In July this year, the government had announced a series of initiatives for the IT and telecom industry including opening up of NLD telephony by August 15 without any ceiling on the number of private players, ending the state monopoly of the sector.

The government also announced the opening up of submarine cable connectivity by allowing internet service providers to set up their own landing stations and had further said that Videsh Sanchar Nigam would be asked to make necessary changes in the exclusive arrangement with its international partner - FLAG - so that existing bandwidth available in India could be fully utilised.