SME Times News Bureau | 19 Jun, 2013
Information
technology industry-lobbying body Nasscom feels there is no need to panic on
the issue of restrictions placed by the US on H1-B visas.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of EmergeOut Conclave 2013, Nasscom
president Som Mittal said the Indian software industry need not panic at the US
Immigration Bill as some of the provisions are positive and another bill is
also under preparation by the American government which is has positive
features for the domestic industry.
"The impact will be on the US corporations who are our clients. They are
batting for us," Mittal said.
Citing the demographic profile of the US, he said the white American population
has come down while the overall population has increased there which, in turn,
means the immigrant numbers have gone up.
He said there is going to be a shortage of technical personnel in the US and
added that the unemployment in the technical space is below two percent.
Mittal said the bill in introduced by US senators and not by the White House
and the restrictions will impact the American companies.
He expressed confidence that many of the provisions in the Bill will undergo a
change.
According to him, the IT industry is expected to log around 13 percent growth
this fiscal and by 2020, the industry can grow to a size of $225 billion mainly
driven by new verticals, new geographies and new customers.
He said currently the US, Britain and other European markets contribute around
90 percent of the Indian IT companies turnover while there is good growth
potential in markets like China, Africa, Latin America and also within India.
Mittal expects nearly 20 percent of the business would come from new geographies
by 2020.
On the issue of new verticals, he said the opportunities in the transport,
healthcare, utilities, media and others are fast opening while presently
financial services, hi-tech and telecom and manufacturing sectors are being
served by Indian companies.
Mittal said small and medium sized companies will also start contributing to
the Indian IT industry's growth in the years to come.