India’s information technology (IT) sector continues to gain traction despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to close FY21 with a revenue of $194 billion, according to NASSCOM.
The industry is expected to add over 138,000 net new hires in FY2020-21, taking the total employee base to 4.47 million.
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the trade body of the IT industry in India, said at a time when global output is estimated to have shrunk by 3.2 percent led by the 2020 pandemic, the Indian technology sector grew at 2.3 percent year-on-year on the back of rapid acceleration in digital transformation and tech adoption.
Presenting the Strategic Review 2021 report titled ‘New World: The Future is Virtual’, NASSCOM said that India’s technology industry contributes around 8 percent relative share to the national GDP, with 52 percent relative share in services exports, and 50 percent share in total FDI (based on FDI inflows for the period April to September 2020).
The Strategic Review also pointed out that India is the third-largest tech hub in the world. Over 1,600 new startups were added in 2020, which is the highest in the last three years to take the total count to over 12,500.
The country’s startup ecosystem added 12 new unicorns last year and NASSCOM said the funding in the second half of 2020 was similar to that of the first half of 2019.
The trade association’s CEO survey reveals that almost two-thirds of the respondents expect significantly higher growth and hiring than in 2020.
NASSCOM Chairman U B Pravin Rao said, “In this hyper-digital economy, trust with the four cornerstones of competence, reliability, integrity, and empathy, will be the single-most-important currency, leading the industry growth towards a better normal.”
According to NASSCOM, enterprises are re-balancing their technology spends to prioritise digitisation. It also stated that technology is expected to drive frontend operations and customer experience.
NASSCOM President Debjani Ghosh said, “As we look at 2021, while there are positives on the vaccination front and accelerated digitisation across verticals, the technology industry in India is well geared to build on these trends and continue its transformation journey in this re-defined techade.”
