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This is India's moment: Kris Gopalakrishnan

Staff Reporter

Says country is the software laboratory of the world

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities thrown up by the massive and multi-dimensional changes happening across the world, Infosys Chief Executive Officer in-designate and Managing Director Kris Gopalakrishnan has said.

He was delivering the first annual convocation address of the Asian School of Business on the Technopark campus here on Thursday. "We have one of the best moments in recent times in India - one of the best moments to graduate and join the workforce," Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.

Emphasising that whenever changes happened opportunities were created for innovation, business and creating wealth, he said, "This is India's moment. For a change, India is well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities. In a world driven by software, India is the software laboratory of the world. Most of the major corporations around the world today develop significant portions of their software in India.

"India is also a fast growing market for products and services. Be it the high end Maybach car from DaimlerChrysler or a shampoo sachet, India is a growth market. New products and solutions are being introduced in India first before they are introduced to the rest of the world," Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.

Business environment

Economic liberalisation had created a favourable business environment in India. Businesses had responded well in creating globally competitive products and a large number of jobs, he said. It was estimated that the number of people belonging to the middle class had gone up from 100 million to 300 million in the past 15 years.

Venture funding and foreign direct investment into India was increasing. Any good idea would get funded today. There existed a good environment for entrepreneurship in India at present, he said.

"India's brand around the world is much better. Our high growth economy is changing the perception about India. It is expected to be a leading economic superpower in the coming 20 years. There is a new respect for Indian companies around the world," he said.

Along with globalisation, developments in areas such as information technology (IT) had also enhanced India's potential, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.

The IT services industry in India had the potential to become the back office to the world. The industry employed more than a million people and would create another two to three million jobs in the next five years, he said.

India and China were adding nearly two billion new consumers and their overall market size was expanding by nearly 100 per cent.

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