Top IT Companies in India: History, Challenges, and their future

What changed the shape of Indian business and evolved its brand value?  The answer to that question is the IT companies in India. The sector is growing rapidly and includes software development consultancies, software management, business process outsourcing and various online services.

If we wish to track down the history of India’s liberalization then it roots will be found in the IT sector. India  is now the hub of software development and IT & ITES services must have had a starting point which could be tracked in the history of IT sector.

Table of Content

History: From Where ‘IT’ All Started?
Present: The Contemporary Situation Of The IT Companies In India
Factors Affecting The IT Industry
Challenges Faced By Indian IT Industry
More Technology Implies More Job Opportunities
Future Of ‘IT’
List Of Top 100 IT companies in India

History: From Where ‘IT’ All Started?

tcs 1973

TCS in 1973

The affair between India and the IT sector started in 1974, when Burroughs, mainframe manufacturers offered Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to export programmers for the installation of system software for its USA client. The origination of the IT industry in India met with a rough start. Unfavorable conditions hampered growth due to the absence of local market and aggressive policies against the private enterprises made the IT sector struggle.

Tracing the origin of Indian IT industry, we get to know that it was started by a Bombay-based corporation which entered into the business by supplying programmers to IT firms situated overseas. In the 1970’s the market was controlled and regulated by the state which made the growth of software industry quite sluggish.

Switch to 1984, the IT industry finally saw some favorable changes, with the introduction of New Computer Policy (NCP-1984) by Rajiv Gandhi. It kick started the software industry. The policy offered a package of reduced import tariffs on hardware and software. Earlier, the import tariffs on hardware were 135% and 100% on software but with this policy a reduction of up to 60% was observed.

Finally the software exports got the recognition of a delicensed industry making them eligible for bank finance. It is due to these policies that the Indian IT industry was able to form such strong foundation.

Present: The Contemporary Situation Of The IT Companies In India

India’s IT industry is thriving globally with exports around $70 billion. There are over 2.8 million employees working in the IT sector. India’s IT industry is an emerging market for the economy which requires more IT services as we move further.

Companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), LTI, Wipro, Infosys, HCL, Tech Mahindra are some of the renowned and upcoming IT powers in the global market. In the financial year 2019, the IT industry generated an annual revenue close to 180 billion U.S. dollars. The industries in India continue to flourish as they are the largest service providers in the field of devices market and telecommunications services. The major reason behind the rapid development of the IT industry is the vast reservoir of technically skilled manpower which has transformed India into a super power.

Our education system places a strong emphasis on mathematics and science which results in large number of students aiming to join the domestic IT companies in India. The investment in human resource has supplied programmers who have strong technical and analytical skills. India provides the largest market of professional programmers who have the willingness and efficiency to work for the benefits of the IT sector.

Factors Affecting The IT Industry

The Indian IT industry is heavily influenced by factors like the global market and sustenance of its rate of growth. The global slowdown also affects India, for instance, the recession in the United States impacted the IT community in India negatively. Although the factors which keep India floating are its abundant talent, creation of urban infrastructure, operational excellence, conducive business environment and the continued growth in the domestic IT sector. The IT industry is promising and has a vast potential of growth.

There are different sectors which effect and are effected by the IT industry like banking, infrastructure, retail, power and energy and auto companies. Although the interlinked market has promised to accelerate the growth of IT industry.

Challenges Faced By Indian IT Industry

There are some challenges which are faced by the Indian IT sector, the major concern being the demand and supply gap. There is an inadequate infrastructure and issues related to tax. The solution for India is to change the current tax structure and look for policies which will fight the new competition players. Factors like global slowdown and political uncertainties effect the growth of IT companies in India. The restrictive regulations for product startups directly affect the growing business. The Indian IT sector requires advanced skills and automated tools to deliver more sophisticated products and engineering software design services.

The IT industry has most of its clients from Western countries, but these countries faced an economic slowdown which hampered the growth of IT companies in India. Another challenge faced is the negative reputation of Indian IT industries in the US due to a few violations. Although, this challenge can be overcome if the companies work towards improving India’s reputation in the global market.

The partial relationship between the dollar and rupee has also effected the IT industries badly. Introduction of new data protection and privacy rules and changes in the policy of H1-B visas has affected the existing relationship between India and the Western countries.

There is nothing which could be done about the policies but IT companies in India need to embrace the differences and keep up with the competition in the global market.

In order to grow India’s IT sector the Indian software firms need to start acquiring niche firms with technologies that will be relevant tomorrow.

More Technology Implies More Job Oppurtunities

job opportunities in itSince the time IT started developing, the sector worked towards creating maximum jobs in the country. The booming IT sector focuses on growth with the changing employment field there are wide range of opportunities. Increasing technological deployment in manufacturing, education and training industry has increased job opportunities.

India has about 1,300 captive units and around 400 new captive units are coming up in near future. By investing in the human capital we can ensure India’s growth in the digital world. The visible changes in the IT sector come with a promise of innovation in the country and good news for India in the global markets. According to industry experts, placing organizations in India in a systematic way will help the industry reach new milestones. MNCs, IT and IT-enabled services require skilled-young professionals which is only possible through investment in human resources.

Experts at NASSCOM predict that in India the IT workforce will touch 30 million by 2020. It will become the highest sector to provide employment with steady increase in salary, a bright future is promised. Companies are also looking forward to develop in the areas of data sciences, algorithm design and cloud computing.

In the end, IT sector is evolving in India, both- government and corporate sectors are promising a lot of jobs to the individuals every year.

Future Of ‘IT’

future of it industry

The 21st century came with the boon of IT industry, it was the world of marvels which was promised by the brilliant technological creations. A revolution which added a vibrant background to the private sector, civil sector and academia.

IT is the backbone of every industry and institution. With the development in the modern day technologies, India in the future will see a significant tilt towards these contemporary developments which include artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, data science and 3D printing.

These improvements can be seen in their developing phase with the India’s first Driverless metro on the magenta line at New Delhi, precision irrigation and usage of robots in automobile factories. India in the past and even now has faced issues like power shortage, agriculture crisis, security related issues where technology like Internet of Things can be a productive step.

IoT in India is in the developing stage but the central and state governments are quite keen on introducing SMART electricity grid, SMART policing grid and SMART logistics. Taking boost from countries like USA and China, now every country is keen on increasing their productivity through technology.

Although India has a set of issues like corruption, safety, poverty and illiteracy, the time is not far when technology will be used extensively in the social sphere as well.

Our government realizes the importance of these technologies and the revenue they can generate. IT sector is an investment which will yearn greater returns in the future. It is predicted that the future of IT is bright in India and its image from a developing economy will change into major global player by 2040.

List Of Top 100 IT companies in India

Rank Company Revenues (Rs Cr as on 2016)
1 TCS 81,809
2 Cognizant Technology Solutions 55,894
3 Infosys Technologies 50,133
4 Wipro 43,763
5 Hewlett-Packard India 36,697
6 HCL Technologies 31,200
7 Tech Mahindra 18,831
8 IBM India 18,754
9 Ingram Micro India 14,128
10 Redington India 13,657
11 Dell India 10,757
12 Oracle India 11,437
13 SAP India 9,520
14 Cisco Systems India 8,902
15 Microsoft India 7,224
16 IGATE 6,734
17 APC by Schneider Electric India 6,114
18 Capgemini India 5,483
19 Intel India 6,412
20 HCL Infosystems 8,218
21 Lenovo India 5,740
22 Savex Computers 5,678
23 Mphasis 5,986
24 Syntel 5,210
25 L&T Infotech 4,850
26 Samsung India 3,950
27 Acer India 3,602
28 Rolta India 3,114
29 Mindtree 3,032
30 Genpact 3,138
31 KPIT Technologies 2,694
32 Rashi Peripherals 2,197
33 CSC India 2,875
34 Vakrangee 1,965
35 Cyient 2,206
36 Hexaware Technologies 2,367
37 Tata Technologies 2,395
38 Zensar Technologies 2,316
39 Iris Computers 1,893
40 Apple India 1,823
41 CMC 2,231
42 EMC India 2,126
43 NIIT Technologies 2,305
44 Asus India 1,787
45 Compuage Infocom 2,275
46 Texas Instruments India 1,936
47 Canon India 1,910
48 Lycos Internet 1,673
49 Supertron Electronics 1,575
50 Polaris Consulting & Services NA
51 Persistent Systems 1,669
52 Infinite Computer Solutions 1,733
53 Sonata Software 1,566
54 Ricoh India 1,048
55 Neoteric Infomatique 1,500
56 Symantec India 1,420
57 ITC Infotech India 1,277
58 NetApp India 1,284
59 SFO Technologies 1,200
60 3i Infotech 1,308
61 Sify Technologies 1,046
62 Seagate India 1,163
63 CSS Corp 1,080
64 Zicom Electronic Security Systems 926
65 Geometric 1,095
66 Epson India 880
67 Mastek 910
68 Xerox India 989
69 Birlasoft 939
70 NIIT Limited 951
71 eClerx 841
72 OnMobile Global 865
73 AGC Networks 776
74 Tata Elxsi 775
75 Intex Technologies 726
76 TAKE Solutions 815
77 Adobe Systems India 690
78 Aurionpro 649
79 Juniper Networks India 709
80 Cybage Software 582
81 R Systems International 627
82 VMware NA
83 CORE Education & Technologies 1,272
84 D-Link 487
85 Fujitsu India 525
86 AMD India 526
87 Intellect Design Arena 533
88 Fortune Marketing 508
89 Trigyn Technologies 452
90 Accel Frontline 421
91 LG India 381
92 Team Computers 307
93 CA Technologies India 550
94 RS Software 382
95 Sasken Communication Technology 458
96 Zylog Systems 1,668
97 Subex 344
98 Nucleus Software 346
99 Huawei India 170
100 SQS India BFSI 197
 

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