Indian IT bucks slowdown trend

So far in the post-pandemic period, people have only been talking about increasing digital adoption and saying that Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption across industries, and technology service providers are witnessing a sharp growth in digital deals. And there are some facts and figures to validate that. And this is particularly true in the case of India, much to the pleasure of the Indian technology sector.

The headwinds in 2020 notwithstanding, Indian tech contributed nearly 8 per cent relative share to the national GDP, with 52 per cent relative share in services exports, and 50 per cent share in total FDI (based on FDI inflows for the period April to September 2020). That's not all. The Nasscom CEO survey for 2021 indicates that almost 70 per cent of companies expect investment in global technology higher than the previous year. 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.

Another key fact that would also testify a significant growth in the technology or digital space has been that the Indian tech industry continues to be a net hirer with a significant focus on digital upskilling. The industry is expected to add over 138,000 net new hires in FY21, taking total employee base to 4.47 million. The digital talent pool is expected to cross 1.17 million, growing at 32 per cent over last year. And mind you, this is happening despite the overall economic and industrial downturn.

What is really encouraging for India is that at a time when the global output is estimated to have shrunk by 3.2 per cent, led by the 2020 pandemic, the Indian technology sector rallied round to grow at 2.3 per cent year on year at the back of rapid acceleration in digital transformation and tech adoption.

When it comes to India's domestic market, technology and digital business, driven by hardware led demand continued to show resilience, growing at 3.4 per cent in the year. With an increased focus on innovation, India witnessed more than 115,000 tech patents filed by companies in India in the last 5 years.

There is no denying the fact that be it in India or elsewhere in the world, digital transformation is the topmost priority for transnational corporations and in a highly connected world that will remain largely contactless for an extended period, there are shifts in business models, customer experience, operations, and employee experience.

Going by the Nasscom study, investing in digital continues to rise as an imperative for the industry, with organisations building their capabilities and aligning business models to digital practices - up to 28 per cent-30 per cent of the industry revenues was recorded for digital. Resonating with the overarching call-to-action for Atmanirbhar Bharat, domestic digital adoption has intensified in 2020.

Going forward, while we certainly need to be cautiously optimistic, it would not be a wrong notion to believe that the technology industry in India is well geared to build on these trends and continue its transformation journey.