India’s IT firms expect continued growth

Bloomberg

India’s software services industry expects growth of as much as 9 percent in fiscal 2019 as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and its peers strengthen automation and adapt to the rapid onset of digital technologies.
Sales will rise 7 to 9 percent in constant currency terms in the fiscal year ending in March 2019, the
National Association of Software and Services Companies, or Nasscom, said Tuesday at its annual meeting in the southern city of Hyderabad. In the current financial year, revenue from the industry will rise 7.8 percent to $167 billion.
India’s IT industry, led by Tata, is groping for a new business model as automation and artificial intelligence upends decades of billing customers for hourly work.
That’s being compounded by uncertainty over visas in the US, the industry’s largest market, where politicians as well as lobby groups are demanding protectionist policies.
“The current outlook is cautious optimism,” R Chandrashekhar, president of Nasscom, said at a media briefing. “There is still some turbulence and it is not clear how some of the known uncertainties will play out, however FY 2019 is likely to
be a better year, based on our
current assessment.”
Nasscom’s 2,400 members include Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd.
Until a couple of years ago, even the biggest IT services companies grew at double digit rates and hired by the thousands as they provided software services for companies including Citigroup Inc. and General Motors Co. Nasscom’s Chandrashekhar said the Indian sector, which likely hired 100,000 net additional people in the current fiscal year, is now in a better position to capitalise on demand for digitised services from its clients.
Digital revenues are set to grow at 1.5 to 2 times the rest of the business, he said.
Shares of Tata Consultancy, India’s biggest outsourcer, and No. 2 player Infosys rose about 1 percent.