India’s information technology sector will grow annually at the rate of 25 percent to 26 percent due to a good performance, according to N R Narayana Murthy, founder and chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, India’s second biggest software services company.

Under the current circumstances, it is performing well. Overall, things are fine. Our annualized growth will be 25-26 percent, and that is pretty good. The sector draws a revenue of $5 billion, and if we can grow at 25 percent, that's not bad,” Murthy told reporters in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on the sidelines of a function on Sunday.

Referring to US President Barack Obama’s remark “say no to Bangalore and yes to Buffalo”, he said it was symbolic of foreign community’s growing respect for Indian industry.

“When the US president talks about Bangalore, that means there is certain respect,” said Murthy.

Indian IT sector back on growth track: Infosys CEO

Meanwhile, Kris Gopalakrishnan, chief executive of Infosys seconded Murthy’s remark on the growth of information technology sector in India saying that the sector is on the threshold of witnessing another growth phase.

In 2008, the industry saw growth coming down to single digits. Most IT companies stopped hiring employees and stopped expanding. Fortunately, growth is back and most companies are hiring in large numbers again. The top five companies are estimated to hire 160,000 to 180,000 new employees in the next 12 months,” said Gopalakrishnan in the south Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

The IT industry has grown fast over the last 15 years. For example, the industry had about 150,000 employees in 1993, around 500,000 employees in 1999 and today, the industry employs around 2 million employees, he said while delivering his keynote address on ‘Sustainable Development Strategies for the Capital City’at a discussion organized by an architecture college.

Gopalakrishnan also pointed out many multinational corporations were looking towards India to expand their markets and create back office operations while also looking at tier II and tier III cities in the country for expansion.

He said infrastructure development in tier II and tier III cities in India was the key to their growth and that an effective mechanism was essential to implement various development strategies.

Industry bodies, relevant NGOs, civic bodies must all have a role to play. For example, industry bodies will be able to mobilize participation by experts. Industry will be able to provide project and program management expertise. Civic leaders will be able to mobilize public opinion. Thus I believe there is a higher chance of the initiatives getting implemented, said Gopalakrishnan.

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