‘IT sector to add 4.5 lakh jobs, see revenue growth of 15.5%’

Special Correspondent

The Indian information technology (IT) industry is expected to grow 15.5% — the highest since 2011 — to reach $227 billion revenue in FY22, while adding about 4.5 lakh jobs during the year, according to the National Association of Software & Services Companies (Nasscom).

According to the industry body’s ‘Strategic Review 2022’, the industry crossed the $200-bn revenue mark during the year by adding $30 billion incremental revenue, as all sub-sectors of the industry recorded double-digit growth.

“Fiscal 2022 has been a breakthrough year for the Indian technology industry,” chairperson Rekha M. Menon said in a virtual conference.

While exports, including hardware, recorded a growth of 17.2%, clocking revenue of $178 billion, the domestic revenue for the technology industry grew 10% to about $50 billion.

E-commerce recorded a growth of 39% to reach $79 billion during the year, Nasscom said, adding that the digital revenue share stood at 30-32%, recording an incremental revenue of $13 billion in FY22.

Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh said while exports played a large part in driving revenues in FY22, the domestic market also emerged as a great propeller “owing to India’s tech adoption with public digital platforms like Aadhaar, UPI and CoWIN playing a large part in delivering citizen services”.

The industry likely added 4.5 lakh new jobs during the year, the highest ever, of which 44% were women.

Nasscom added that despite headwinds like geopolitics, macroeconomic fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and the after-effects of the pandemic, the industry would continue to display grit, resilience and agility.

According to the Nasscom Tech CEO Survey 2022, more than 70% CXOs believe that FY23 is poised to be another growth year for the industry. “The current demand trends on technology spending and economic growth point to a positive outlook on technology spending and hiring. The industry has also set itself an ambitious target of $350 billion by FY26 growing at a rate of 11-14%,” it added.