US slowdown not to impact Indian IT growth: Nasscom

The Indian IT and ITeS sector will not be affected by a slowdown in the US market, IT industry body Nasscom said.

Nasscom President Som Mittal said that though the slowdown might affect the industry in the short-term, but in the long run the Indian IT and BPO sector will continue to maintain healthy growth rate.

India`s outsourcing industry is grappling with an appreciating rupee and the sluggishness may remain for another four-to-six months, he said.

The sector expects to meet or even exceed its software export target of 60 billion dollars and overall software and services revenue goal of 73-75 billion dollars by 2010..

`The financial turmoil in the US and elsewhere could drive businesses to farm out more work to cheaper Indian firms,` newly elected Vice-Chairman of Nasscom Pramod Bhasin said.

Bhasin, who is also the President and CEO of Genpact, said the industry has been seeking to diversify its markets to offset its reliance on the US.

The US remains the largest outlet for India`s software sector, taking 61% of its exports, he added.

`Nasscom has identified six underlying themes for the year which will work as vectors for us to plan initiatives and focused programmes around,` Nasscom Chairman Ganesh Natarajan said.

In addition to community and collaboration, the new thrust areas like societal development and inclusivity, Green IT and Education & Skill building have been identified, which are critical for sustaining the long-term global leadership that this industry aspires to achieve, he added.