FACTBOX - Indian outsourcing and back-office services

Mon, May 12 08:20 AM

REUTERS - Indian software services companies, reliant on large outsourcing contracts from big U.S. firms like General Electric, and Cisco Systems, are looking to emerging markets for future earnings growth.

With recession looming in the United States, companies such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies Ltd are increasingly winning contracts in

Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Eastern

Europe.

Following are some facts about India's software services industry:

* Indian software writing skills won recognition in the late 1990s and helped companies overcome the "Y2K" problem.

* Wages in India are rising 10-15 percent a year, but are still only a fifth of those paid to Western counterparts.

* In January, industry pioneer Tata Consultancy said it would focus more on emerging markets to diversify risks.

* In October, Infosys said it aimed to expand in Australia, China, Japan, the Middle East, Canada and Latin America.

* Industry lobby the National Association of Software and Service Companies says sales should top $73 billion in 2009/2010.

* The sector is estimated to have directly employed about 2 million people by March, up from 1.6 million the previous year.

* Multinationals, such as IBM, Accenture and SAP, are also expanding in India, as companies spend more on technology in a booming economy.

Sources: Reuters; NASSCOM (www.nasscom.in); company websites (www.tcs.com; www.infosys.com)

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