Advantage India
Growing
Demand
*In FY22, the top three Indian IT companies, TCS, Wipro and Infosys, were expected to offer 1.05 lakh job opportunities due to the increasing demand for talent and skill.
*India‘s IT and business services market is projected to reach US$ 19.93 billion by 2025.
*The IT spending in India is estimated to record a double-digit growth of 11.1 percent in 2024, totaling $138.6 billion up from $124.7 billion last year.
Global
Footprint
*Indian IT firms have delivery centres all across the world.
*IT & BPM industry is well diversified across verticals such as BFSI, telecom and retail.
*Increasing strategic alliance between domestic and international players to deliver solutions across the globe.
Competitive
Advantage
*India’s technology industry is on track to double its revenue to US$ 500 billion by 2030.
*India’s overall Digital Competitiveness Score of 60 (on 100), ahead of every BRICs nations besides China, refelects the rise of tech talent in the country,
Policy
Support
*In the Union Budget 2024-25, the allocation for IT and telecom sector stood at Rs. 1,16,342 crore (US$ 13.98 billion).
*The government prioritizes cybersecurity, hyper-scale computing, AI, and blockchain. With data costs at Rs. 10/GB ($0.12/GB), India ranks among the world's cheapest.
Introduction
The IT & BPM sector has become one of the most significant growth catalysts for the Indian economy, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP and public welfare. The IT industry accounted for 7% of India’s GDP, as of FY24.
As innovative digital applications permeate sector after sector, India is now prepared for the next phase of growth in its IT revolution. India is viewed by the rest of the world as having one of the largest Internet user bases and the cheapest Internet rates, with 76 crore citizens now having access to the Internet.
The current emphasis is on the production of significant economic value and citizen empowerment, thanks to a solid foundation of digital infrastructure and enhanced digital access provided by the Digital India Programme. India is one of the countries with the quickest pace of digital adoption. This was accomplished through a mix of government action, commercial innovation and investment, and new digital applications that are already improving and permeating a variety of activities and different forms of work, thus having a positive impact on the daily lives of citizens.
India’s rankings improved six places to the 40th position in the 2022 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII).
Market Size
According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian IT industry’s revenue touched US$ 227 billion in FY22, a 15.5% YoY growth and was estimated to have touched US$ 245 billion in FY23.
The IT spending in India is estimated to record a double-digit growth of 11.1% in 2024, totalling US$ 138.6 billion up from US$ 124.7 billion last year.
The Indian software product industry is expected to reach US$ 100 billion by 2025. Indian companies are focusing on investing internationally to expand their global footprint and enhance their global delivery centres.
The data annotation market in India stood at US$ 250 million in FY20, of which the US market contributed 60% to the overall value. The market is expected to reach US$ 7 billion by 2030 due to accelerated domestic demand for AI.
India's IT industry is likely to hit the US$ 350 billion mark by 2026 and contribute 10% towards the country's gross domestic product (GDP), Infomerics Ratings said in a report.
As an estimate, India’s IT export revenue rose by 9% in constant currency terms to US$ 194 billion in FY23. Exports from the Indian IT services industry stood at US$ 199 billion in FY24.
The export of IT services has been the major contributor, accounting for more than 53% of total IT exports (including hardware).
BPM and engineering and R&D (ER&D) and software products exports accounted for 22% and 25%, respectively of total IT exports during FY23.
Exports from the Indian IT industry stood at US$ 194 billion in FY23. The export of IT services was the major contributor, accounting for more than 51% of total IT exports (including hardware). BPM, and Software products and engineering services accounted for 19.3% and 22.1% each of total IT exports during FY23.
The IT industry added 2.9 lakh new jobs taking the industry’s workforce tally to 5.4 million people in FY23.
Investments/ Developments
- Indian IT's core competencies and strengths have attracted significant investment from major countries and companies.
- Hyderabad, known for its prominence in the IT sector, achieved exports worth Rs. 2.68 lakh crore (US$ 32.2 billion) in FY24, with a workforce of 9.46 lakh employees. This represents a YoY growth of 11.2%.
- Direct employment in the IT services and BPO/ITeS segment was estimated to reach 5.4 million in FY23 with an addition of 290,000 people.
- The revenue of India’s public cloud services market totalled US$ 6.2 billion in 2022, and it is expected to reach US$ 17.8 billion by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 23.4%.
- In November 2022, ICICI Bank introduced two new products for its NRI clients - Loan against Deposits (LAD) and Dollar Bonds, at its branch in GIFT City.
- In November 2022, Amazon Web Services announced the launch of its second AWS infrastructure region in India - the AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region. By 2030, it is anticipated that the region will support more than 48,000 full-time jobs annually thanks to investments totalling more than US$ 4.4 billion in India.
- In November 2022, Google established a partnership with local gaming startup SuperGaming through its Google Cloud division. As part of the collaboration, game developers who use Google Cloud to create, host, and distribute their games will have access to SuperGaming's SuperPlatform game engine.
- HDFC Bank partnered with Flywire to enable their customers to make fee payments digitally to overseas colleges and universities.
- In August 2022, Network People Services Technologies (NPST) announced that it was working on a banking super app. The high-end platform can be used by banks, fintech companies, and other BFSI players, and it will offer a seamless user experience with all banking, financial, and transactional services combined into a robust, smart app.
- In August 2022, PwC India announced that it was planning to hire 10,000 employees in the cloud and digital technologies space over the next five years.
- In October 2022, PE/VC investments in the technology sector stood at US$ 157 million across 12 deals.
- The computer software and hardware sector in India attracted cumulative Foreign Investment (FDI) inflows worth US$ 102.9 billion between April 2000-March 2024. The sector ranked second in FDI inflows as per the data released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Computer software and hardware make up 15.6% of the cumulative FDI inflows.
- In July 2022, the Union Bank of India (UBI) launched a Metaverse Virtual Lounge and Open Banking Sandbox environment in partnership with Tech Mahindra.
- In June 2022, ZStack International, a worldwide market leader in cloud computing, IaaS, and PaaS solutions, announced that they were entering India and the SAARC Region.
- In June 2022, Redington India, an IT provider, entered into a multi-year strategic agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to drive cloud technology adoption in India.
- American-Irish consumer credit reporting company Experian is planning a major expansion of its Global Innovation Centre (GIC) in Hyderabad to about 4,000 employees over the next three to five years. According to sources, GIC will concentrate on employing emerging technologies in the BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) sector, including cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
- In 2021, PE investments in the IT sector stood at US$ 23.4 billion.
- India’s IT startup ecosystem received record investments of nearly US$ 36 billion in privately held companies in 2021, up from US$ 11 billion in 2020.
- In March 2022, Licious, India’s largest tech-first, fresh animal protein brand, raised US$ 150 million in a Series F2 funding round.
- In March 2022, Byju’s raised US$ 800 million in funding as part of a pre-IPO round, which values the Bengaluru-based company at about US$ 22 billion.
- In March 2022, debt marketplace CredAvenue raised US$ 137 million in a funding round led by Insight Partners, B Capital Group and Dragoneer Investment Group, which propelled the startup’s valuation to US$ 1.3 billion.
- In February 2022, Hasura, a software company which helps developers with tools, raised US$ 100 million in a fresh funding round led by Greenoaks Capital, which elevated the company into a unicorn.
- In January 2022, Google announced plans to invest US$ 1 billion in India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. to push India's digital ecosystem.
- Amazon partnered with Airtel to sell Amazon Web Services (AWS) to its customers and intends to inject US$ 1.6 billion into their two upcoming data centres in Hyderabad.
- In November 2021, Wipro partnered with TEOCO to build solutions for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to improve network automation, efficiency, flexibility, and reliability.
- In August 2021, Tata Consultancy Services was adjudged a leader in the NelsonHall NEAT for CX Services in Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI).
Government Initiatives
Some of the major initiatives taken by the government to promote the IT and ITeS sector in India are as follows:
- The Union Budget 2024-25, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024, proposes an allocation of Rs. 1,16,342 crore (US$ 13.98 billion) for IT and Telecom sectors.
- In March 2024, The Cabinet approved an allocation of over Rs. 10,300 crore (US$ 1.2 billion) for the IndiaAI Mission, marking a significant step towards bolstering India’s AI ecosystem.
- The government prioritizes cybersecurity, hyper-scale computing, AI, and blockchain. With data costs at Rs. 10/GB ($0.12/GB), India ranks among the world's cheapest.
- Cabinet approved PLI Scheme – 2.0 for IT Hardware with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 17,000 crore (US$ 2.06 billion).
- In September 2022, the new Telecommunications Bill 2022 was published for public consultation by the Ministry of Communications as a move toward creating a new telecom framework in India.
- In August 2022, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), in collaboration with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), successfully planned and carried out the "Synergy" Cyber Security Exercise for 13 countries to build network resilience against ransomware attacks.
- In June 2022, STPI Director General Mr. Arvind Kumar stated that exports through STPI units have increased from Rs. 17 crore (US$ 2.14 million) in 1992 to Rs. 5.69 lakh crore (US$ 71.65 billion) in 2022.
- In May 2022, it was announced that Indians can now avail of their DigiLocker services through WhatsApp to get easy access to their official documents.
- In April 2022, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued Directions to strengthen cybersecurity in the country.
- The government introduced the STP Scheme, which is a 100% export-oriented scheme for the development and export of computer software, including the export of professional services using communication links or physical media.
- In November 2021, the government launched the Internet Exchange in Uttarakhand to enhance the quality of internet services in the state.
- The Karnataka government signed three MoUs worth Rs. 100.52 crore (US$ 13.4 million) to help the state's emerging technology sector.
- In September 2021, the Indian government announced a plan to build a cyber-lab for the ‘Online Capacity Building Programme on Crime Investigation, Cyber Law, and Digital Forensics’ to strengthen cyber security capabilities.
- In September 2021, the Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology (MeitY) organised a workshop under the theme of ‘Connecting all Indians’ to promote public and private stakeholders’ interest in the country and expand internet access to remote areas.
- In September 2021, the Indian government launched the Meghalaya Enterprise Architecture Project (MeghEA) to boost service delivery and governance in the state by leveraging digital technologies, to make Meghalaya a high-income state by 2030.
- In September 2021, the Indian government launched Phase II of the Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme to encourage research in 42 emerging technologies in Information Technology (IT), Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and Information Technology-Enabled Services (ITES).
- In September 2021, the Indian government inaugurated five National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) Centres in three Northeastern states to boost the availability of training centres and employment opportunities.
- On July 2, 2021, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises launched six technology innovation platforms to develop technologies for globally competitive manufacturing in India. The six technology platforms have been developed by IIT Madras, Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT), Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), BHEL, and HMT, in association with IISc Bangalore.
- The Department of Telecom, Government of India and Ministry of Communications, Government of Japan, signed an MoU to enhance cooperation in areas of 5G technologies, telecom security and submarine optical fibre cable systems.
Road Ahead
India is the topmost offshoring destination for IT companies across the world. Having proven its capabilities in delivering both on-shore and off-shore services to global clients, emerging technologies now offer an entire new gamut of opportunities for top IT firms in India.
The IT spending in India is estimated to record a double-digit growth of 11.1% in 2024, totalling US$ 138.6 billion up from US$ 124.7 billion last year.
India’s public cloud services market grew to US$3.8 billion in the first half of 2023, expected to reach US$ 17.8 billion by 2027
By 2026, widespread cloud utilisation can provide employment opportunities to 14 million people and add US$ 380 billion to India's GDP.
As per a survey by Amazon Web Services (2021), India is expected to have nine times more digitally skilled workers by 2025.
In November 2021, Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, lauded the Indian IT sector for excelling in its competitive strength with zero government interference. He further added that service exports from India have the potential to reach US$ 1 trillion by 2030.
Notes: AI - Artificial Intelligence
References: Media Reports, Press Information Bureau (PIB), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Department of Information and Technology, Union Budget 2023-24
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