According to a study by McKinsey & Co., the total market opportunity for software services in 1998 was US$ 270 billion. Of these, US$ 27 billion is the opportunity that can be outsourced to remote locations like India. Of this, India had a share of US$ 4 billion (15 per cent) in 1999-2000.

This opportunity is likely to go up to US$ 250 billion by 2008.

Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee has set a target of US$ 50 billion for software exports by 2008. Even this target is only 20 per cent of the worldwide opportunity for offshore services by 2008.

As long as there are new innovations in IT, as long as the end-user corporations want to leverage the power of these innovations to create new competitive advantages in the marketplace, I see a significant role for Indian software companies. Thus, market opportunity does not seem to be an issue at this stage.

What should we do to become a successful nation in IT?
Conclusion

Introduction
Do we need hi-tech enterprises in India?
Product exports or services exports?

The Rediff Specials

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