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IT industry pins hopes on new Nasscom chief

Sumeet Chatterjee in New Delhi

India's over $8-billion information technology industry hopes that Kiran Karnik, the new Nasscom president, would help revive the fortunes of software companies battling to come out of a sector slowdown.

Karnik, the former head of Discovery Channel in India, will have a 'tough and challenging' task ahead of him as president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, industry representatives said on Tuesday.

The Nasscom chief's post fell vacant in April on the sudden demise of Dewang Mehta, who was president for the last 10 years, in a hotel room in Sydney. The dynamic 38-year-old Mehta's name was synonymous with India's booming software industry.

"It will be a very challenging role for Karnik to step into Dewang Mehta's shoes. I think he has networking skills to build relationship with the government, industry and international organisations," said Bhupesh Lall, director (marketing) of software solutions firm PTC India.

"Indian IT industry is itself very strong and therefore he wouldn't be selling a non-entity. But at the same time we would expect him to carry further what his predecessor had initiated," he said.

According to Lall, Karnik would have to explore the opportunity of increasing outsourcing software products and services from India by international companies to steer the industry out of the demand slowdown.

Industry analysts say since Karnik does not have a software industry background he would have to embark on a thorough understanding of issues relating to the IT business.

"As the chief of the country's premier lobby group, Karnik must have the vision to predict future trends. In the first few weeks, the president will have to work on building his own understanding and authority," said an analyst with a rating agency.

"Though he would only be the paid chief executive of Nasscom, everybody would expect Karnik to recreate the hype that his predecessor created about the software industry," the analyst, who did not want to be named, said.

For long Nasscom had been virtually a one-man show. Although the body had an executive committee and a chairman, the mop-haired Mehta did more than anyone else in the last few years to change the image of the country as an IT powerhouse.

The Geneva-based World Economic Forum identified Mehta as one of the 100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow.

Vinnie Mehta, director of Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology, said although Karnik has vast experience and networking skills, he would not have the advantage of being the helmsman at a time when the industry is riding on the crest of a wave.

India's software and services industry growth, which expanded by 55 per cent during fiscal 2001 to $8.6 billion, is expected to come off the boil in the current fiscal year due to an economy slowdown in the US that accounts for over 70 per cent of the country's exports.

"Karnik is coming in a very different circumstances. We will have to give him time to adjust to the changed scenario and then chart the roadmap for growth by focusing on new export destinations," Mehta of MAIT said.

Phiroz Vandrevala, executive vice-president of India's top software company Tata Consultancy Services, said: "He is widely recognized as one of the key figures in the broadcasting sector due to the numerous initiatives that he took in the development of the industry."

"We feel that with his drive and experience, he will be the ideal candidate to lead Nasscom in its efforts to develop India as the next IT superpower," Vandrevala, who is also the chairman of Nasscom, said in a statement.

Indo-Asian News Service

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