Amidst global uncertainty and a looming war situation in West Asia, the Indian IT sector is likely to be impacted if the United States and its allies move forward with military action against Syria.
The unrest and violence in the West Asian country has got the Western world in a huddle contemplating action to contain the crisis. Indian businesses which are already reeling under the burden of the depreciating rupee is likely to feel the impact of any such move. The volatility of the Indian rupee has seen it lose as much as 20 per cent in the last couple of months vis-a vis the US dollar.
Most IT companies have made no secret of ‘cautious optimism’ in their approach to current conditions.
IT majors have already stated that bad economic conditions are leading to delays in closing deals and also that clients were getting increasingly cautious in their spending.
“All these are uncertainties (strike at Syria) can affect the investment sentiments into IT”, Kris Gopalakrishnan, President of the Confederation of Indian Industries told Express.
Indian IT, which is heavily dependent on America for their software exports is seeing short term benefits due to the depreciating rupee value.
According to IT trade forum, National Association of Software Companies (NASSCOM), Indian software exports is forecasted to be about 12-14 per cent for FY-14.
On reports that the US markets are recovering, Kris said that the industry is slated to grow at 12-14 per cent while the global IT growth rate is 3-4 per cent. “Yes the growth rate has come down as the potential is to grow is 18-20 per cent, but we are growing at 12-14 per cent, but it is still growth. We are not insulated right, even though we are seeing signs of recovery in US, Europe etc,” he said.