IT firms likely to be on lower end of FY15 NASSCOM guidance

 IT companies are expected to be on the lower end of NASSCOM's guidance of 13-15 per cent growth for FY 15, the industry body's President R Chandrashekar said today.

"I don't think that's a sign of worry. If you talk to any of the companies and I have seen in your own reports stating that as well, they continue to be extremely optimistic about the future," he told reporters here.

Chandrashekar, who was speaking on the sidelines of "NASSCOM Diversity and Inclusion Summit" here was asked if there is a worry about IT companies even meeting the lower end of the guidance with just one more quarter left.

"There are of course variations in the course of the year... currency fluctuations, for example, had been a big factor this year and you have seen a number of reports on that account also. So I think these temporary variations are not indicator of the broader trend behind that."

Secondly, there are different segments of the industry also where there have been significant growth. "We believe that taking all these factors into account, of course within the band it is more likely to be towards the lower end rather than else where..., that is what we still think would be the over all outcome at the end of the year," he said.

NASSCOM, which represents the more than USD 120 billion IT-ITeS industry, expects the sector's exports to grow by 13-15 per cent in 2014-15 fiscal as against 13 per cent in 2013-14.

To a question whether revising the growth rates at least for the next year is an option before NASSCOM, he said "Well- you will see, because that projection is still being worked on and will be unveiled at the NILF when we unveil our strategic review as we do every year...."

On how the industry is looking at US President Barack Obama's visit to the country, Chandrashekar said, "Obviously IT sector being very very important sector in the Indo-US economic relationship, we do have significant involvement of the industry in the various interactions.

"We have number of areas where there are both concerns and suggestions and opportunities for enhancing the relationship."

"Some of the concerns were highlighted earlier also when Secretary of State John Kerry had visited and then when our Prime Minister had gone to the US and met the President, so these concerns while they have not been heightened, they have not disappeared entirely either," he said. Chandrashekar said so as long as the policies with regard to immigration and the guidelines do not take the final shape those concerns remain and will continue to be shared with the US side, because this is an area where both countries had benefited enormously from this relationship.

"We believe it is in the interest of both countries to ensure that there are no impediments to the continued growth of this industry," he said.

In addition to the large service industry, the IT-BPM industry, the bright new spot in this relationship had been the synergy in the startup and the whole entrepreneurial ecosystem and "that is also something which I think both countries would do well to nurture and felicitate," he added.

Obama will arrive in New Delhi on Sunday to be the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade.

Responding to a question on protests related to layoffs in TCS, Chandrashekar said "as a matter of policy we do not comment or interfere into the affairs of an individual company except in extraordinary cases like it happened with Satyam...., having said that, I do believe that some of the facts as we have been given to understand is that nothing which is out of the ordinary has taken place."

He said "It is certainly a matter of great concern that there is lot of discussion on these issues on social media, some of which have factual information but many which are not based on facts and I think in all of these we should go by the facts."

Earlier speaking at the event, Chandrashekar said relative under representation of woman at senior management positions in the industry was an area of concern but expressed hope it would be rectified over time.