CHENNAI: "IT companies should concentrate more on the domestic market instead of giving priority to foreign companies alone," said C. Chandramouli, State Secretary, Information Technology, here on Tuesday.

It would be a mistake on the part of information technology companies to neglect the domestic market, which had a huge potential. Besides, their strength in the domestic market would help IT companies fetch more foreign tie-ups. In this connection he cited the Gartner study, which said that Indian IT companies' share of the domestic market was only 42 per cent, while the rest was by foreign multinationals.

There must be balanced growth of internal and external markets for India to become the global IT superpower. It was time that local IT companies looked inward, said Mr. Chandramouli while participating in a meeting on "IT SMEs - the days ahead," organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce here.

The second major challenge for IT companies, he said, was how to hard sell outsourcing, as foreign countries were fearful that it would affect the local job market. Indian companies had to convince foreign companies that they were only helping them to improve their productivity. "We have to tell them that it is a win-win situation where both would benefit."

Another aspect worrying IT companies was getting security certification after a few unpleasant episodes in the industry. Thanks to the setting up of the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS) in Chennai recently, IT companies could address their security needs and other concerns.

Referring to various infrastructure developments being undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Government, the IT Secretary said the State had been rated as the best investment centre which had received 2700 FDI proposals worth $ 6.80 millions, which was 9.12 per cent of the country's FDI share. About Rs. 1500 crores was being invested in the State for infrastructure development, which included road development projects, decongestion plans, and power augmentation.

Road development projects included Inner and Outer Ring Roads in Chennai and a separate IT corridor. The State was developing 19 million square feet for IT, more than 40 industrial parks were coming up. Infrastructure in other major cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Hosur was also being taken care of by the Government.

Earlier, Rajalakshmi, Director, Software Technology Parks of India, Chennai, said companies should adopt a cluster approach to cut down costs and to maintain ethics.

It would help them to have common marketing, adhere to quality and have regular interaction on technologies.

The president and CEO of Cognizant Technology Solutions, M. Lakshminarayanan, said it was not easy for SMEs to get their share in the market unless they worked hard.

They should always keep their eyes and ears open, he said.

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