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        The Indian IT and ITeS industry recorded an overall growth of 30.7 per cent with revenues at $39.6 billion, including for domestic market, at the end of fiscal 2007, thus surpassing the projected growth of 27 per cent from $30.3 billion recorded in the previous year.

        Releasing the annual survey, the National Association for Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) at a press conference in Bangalore yesterday said IT exports grew by 33 per cent to post revenues of $31.4 billion, up from $23.6 billion netted for the year 2005-06. The domestic segment grew by 23 per cent to reach a gross income of $8.2 billion as compared to $6.7 billion in the previous year.

        Within the export segment, IT services have grown by 35.5 per cent to clock revenues of $18 billion, while ITeS - BPO exports rose by 33.5 per cent to touch $8.4 billion. Engineering services and products exports touch revenues of $4.9 billion, a growth of 23 per cent from the previous year.

        The NASSCOM survey predicted the overall IT software and services would grow by 24 - 27 per cent to achieve revenues of $49 - 50 billion in fiscal 2008. 'The Indian software and services industry continued with its strong performance in fiscal 2007. Marked by double digit growth, IT sector had enhanced its role in global trade with continued momentum in new contracts and renewals, increasing traction in a broad range of services, expansion of geographic footprint, growing mergers and acquisitions, and heightened interest among private and equity investors to drive growth opportunities,' said Lakshmi Narayanan, chairman, NASSCOM and vice-chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions.

        Directly employing more than 1.6 million people and indirectly creating job opportunities for additional 6 million people in related sectors, the IT industry has an impact on socio-economic development by contributing 5.2 per cent of the GDP.

        Speaking on the forecasts of software and services industry in the current fiscal, Kiran Karnik, president, NASSCOM, said the IT sector continued to exceed projections and the target of $50 billion for exports and domestic market for the fiscal 2008 would be achieved. 'We will also meet the target of $60 billion in exports by 2009-10. From a market perspective, the indicators continue to be positive with addressable market of over $300 billion, drive by growth of existing business and new opportunities in services,' Karnik said.

        India continued to be the preferred destination for global IT sourcing due to its talent pool, top-quality management, security and quality focus, though there was a need to address short and medium-term challenges swiftly. These concerns include rupee appreciation, suitability of available talent, infrastructure woes and a need for positive policy and regulatory environment. 'To meet these challenges, there should be continuous efforts from all stakeholders including industry, government, academy and NASSCOM,' Karnik said.

        The top list does not include some companies whose headquarters are located outside India but have significant India-centric delivery capabilities and have not shared their India-based revenue figures. Had they been ranked based on their India revenues, companies such as Accenture, Cognizant, HP, IBM and Perot would have been listed by NASSCOM.