India's IT-BPO industry warily cheers Obama's victory, fears cut down in outsourcing

To dispel the gloom, Som Mittal, president of National Association of Software and Service Companies or Nasscom, the consortium that serves as the apex body of the Indian IT software and BPO industry, said on Thursday, on the sidelines of the release of the Nasscom Animation and Gaming Report 2008 in Hyderabad, that the the Indian IT-BPO industry should not worry about the ongoing economic downturn in the US as it contributed to just 3 percent of the IT business market globally.

"I don't see any negative impact of [Obama's] victory on Indian IT-BPO industry. What I see is more opportunities for us as Obama's priority is to bring the US economy back on track. Indian IT and BPO industry will play a crucial role in it," Mittal said.

"It is a globalized world. It is not just that Indian companies are operating in the US or are getting outsourced jobs. Many leading Indian companies and professionals have helped transform big US companies. Many studies have showed and people in US also know that outsourcing has rather helped protect their jobs then lose them by improving their competitiveness and productivity," he added.

According to Mittal, the fundamentals of the Indian economy were very strong but he acknowledged that the IT-BPO industry needed the government's support in the form of reduced taxes and providing infrastructure to help it tide over the ongoing financial crisis.

Echoing similar views, Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of Nasscom, said Obama's win the presidential election would not mean death of outsourcing business for India. His triumph, Natarajan said, would in fact spur the growth in outsourcing business as a strong US economy would result in huge opportunities for India.

"America will charter a new course for itself in history which will give opportunities for all of us in India," he said.