Infotech poised for a bigger boom

BANGALORE: An expat in Bangalore was a silent witness to a conversation on the crumbling infrastructure in the city. When asked what makes him still visit the city, the reply was simple. "All great cities of the world have gone through this phase. Eventually, infrastructure will be world-class. No government in can ignore this and the benefit it brings to the economy."
The Indian IT juggernaut seems to have no stopping.As another year rolls by, it is this optimism among people that continues to grow the sector.
Expansion of existing operations, larger deals coming to Indian IT vendors, increased VC investment (over $3 billion in the first six months of the year), acquisitions abroad, focus on product development and emergence of semiconductor industry were some of the key highlights in 2006.
"This year was a turning point for the IT industry. India has been accepted much widely as a brand and clients worldwide seem to have included India in their decision for multi-sourcing of contracts. This would provide a huge momentum on contracts that are going to be negotiated in the year to come," says Deepak Khosla, senior VP, Patni Computers.
"Fundamental acceptance of India as a product engineering hub was the biggest change during 2006. After proving that we can do highend engineering in 2005, Indian firms began to get access to the world and this time, it was driven by availability of capital. MNCs would increase the quantum of work done in India during 2007," said Samir Bordas, president (product engineering) Aztecsoft.