No slowdown in software growth

HYDERABAD: For people who thought that the defeat of Chandrababu Naidu in the polls last year would bring to an end Hyderabad''s flirtation with information technology, the software figures for the 2004-05 should make a telling point: exports touched Rs 8,270 crore in the year of Rajasekhara Reddy, up from Rs 5025 crore the year before.
That''s an increase of 64.57 per cent—not bad for a regime that''s supposed to have its heart somewhere other than IT.
Naidu or no Naidu, software companies continued to flock to the state last year. More than 152 new companies registered themselves to start operations here as against 119 last year. That''s expected to bring in an investment of Rs 1,000 crore into the IT sector. More than half a dozen mega IT companies are in the process of starting operations in the state. Visakhapatnam is all set to become the second IT hub after Hyderabad. Vijayawada, Kakinada, Warangal and Tirupati are hoping to get on the bandwagon soon, spurred by the government''s policy of spreading IT investment to tier-II cities.
One feature of the state''s IT growth curve over the past eight years had been its plateauing. From 102.11 per cent growth in software exports in 1997-98, the state saw growth rates slow down to 37 per cent in 2003-04. This was to be expected because the high early growth rates were essentially built on a low base and the lower figures in subsequent years were not so much a slowing down as a sustenance of early vigour. In that context, the growth rate of 65 per cent seen in the last year is impressive and speaks of a maturing of the IT industry in the state.
Eager to bridge the gap behind Bangalore, the government has raised its export target by a whopping Rs 5,000 crore this year. But more importantly, having reached the end of the exponential stage of the IT growth curve, industry captains and government planners have realised the fact that sustaining growth from here on will depend on how the city addresses some hindering factors. Chief among these is the availability of relevant human resources.
To meet Hyderabad''s desperate need for ''soft skills,'' education policies have quickly been redrafted to introduce these disciplines into the curriculum from Intermediate to post-graduation level. While a whole forest of private institutions have sprung up to take the task, the government too has stepped in to provide training institutions an incentive of Rs 2000 per candidate, successfully trained and employed in a reputed ITeS company.
Students will be taught communication skills in English addition to leadership building courses. The government also plans to change the curriculum in the engineering courses to suit the needs of the IT and ITeS industry.