Narayana Murthy pans IT critics

Infosys chairman and mentor N R Narayana Murthy on Tuesday advised critics of the information technology industry to realise the huge job growth and image the IT sector had brought to Bangalore and welcomed more such companies to join the fray.

Addressing engineers and engineering college students in Mysore, he said, "Today, the world has recognised Bangalore as a place that offers high quality talent at an affordable price."

"No industry other than IT in India, either in the past or post-Independence, has been able to generate 2.2 million jobs. In Bangalore alone, the industry has given jobs to three lakh people.

"Of the 6.5 million people in Bangalore, a whopping one million have IT and IT-related jobs. No other industry in the history of Bangalore has created so many jobs," he said.

Indirectly referring to the critics of the IT sector, Narayana Murthy said, "It is easy for the industry to go to some other part of India - Chennai or elsewhere. But it is important that we open our eyes to the fact that the IT industry has created a whopping one million jobs in Bangalore."

The number of IT industries in Bangalore has grown from 364 to 1,650. He added that 150 companies are joining the list every year. There is no other city in India that has 622 MNCs. "This is enough to encourage the IT industry," he said.

It should also be noted that while Indian IT sector contributes 3.5 per cent to the GDP, in China it is 5.7 per cent, US 7.9 per cent, and Israel 7.4 per cent. "We are yet to go that far," Murthy said.

"This is the time for us to prepare a plan for the estimated 47 million who will be jobless by 2020 and ensure that they will not be without a job. If this population remains jobless it will lead to disastrous consequences. This is important for our leaders to realise and create more and more jobs early," Murthy said.

Exports have reached $17.2 billion in 2004-05 from $164 million in 1991. The annual growth rate has been 38 per cent. It is expected to grow from $57 billion dollars to $65 billion by 2008.

A whopping 50 per cent of the companies that have earned quality accreditation from the Software Engineering Institute are from India.

For the first time in India since [the year] 1600, we have an opportunity to participate in the global bazaar. This is an extraordinary achievement, Murthy said.

Consequently, India has become a premier destination for IT solutions today. Its IT sector has established itself as a highly competitive and vibrant domestic software industry, Narayana Murthy said expressing happiness that Infosys is playing a vital role in the IT sector, competing with the best of the global firms.