Pradeep Agarwal : Trailblazing India’s success with progress of software industry

Progress in the technological world has been directly proportional to the ease in our lives. Pradeep Agarwal elaborates on the advancements made in the Indian software industry and the economic growth it has brought.

Developing through the years, Indian software industry has given the world new and better ways to communicate via technology and also interact with it. As Pradeep Agarwal explains, the space of software industry alone has been a major contributor to the Indian GDP – with 8 percent share.

On the back of thousands of IT services companies that have been established in the last 30 years, the industry has seen a whopping US$177 billion in revenue. The sector has created over four million direct jobs and 12 million indirect jobs in India.

Today, the software industry provides cost-effective back office support across the world. This change is visible with the setting up of more than 7,000 startups in India, and the pace of doing business that has occurred simultaneously. Also, only on the back of developments, it has been majorly possible to accommodate working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Pradeep Agarwal explains that advancements we take for granted, once seemed far-fetched. He adds that in order to understand the Indian software industry, we must look at its three-decade-long journey.

Tracking Growth

Before the dawn of 21^st century, the software sector was largely made up of companies looking to sell computer code services to global clients. Also, the success was monitored on the basis of the number of exports successfully made. At that time, Agarwal explains, companies started solving (Y2K) problems for their customers. They extended their offerings to assist firms in managing their legacy portfolio of applications and infrastructure.

Later, as the first wave of global internet and dot-com created intercontinental Internet infrastructure, Indian companies entered the frame. With the use of technology, the establishments were able to deliver software development-related services to global enterprises remotely.

“This than lead to multinational corporations entering India and developing their offshore development centres” says Pradeep Agarwal. He adds that this time in history also showed us a glimpse of what was to come in the following years.

As the years rolled by, the Indian institutions developed and understood the knack of dealing with complex IT systems. They also signed deals or partnered with international brands. By early 2000s, software development firms grew capable enough to offer an array of services including executing large and complex projects involving integration, complete end-to-end solutions and providing IT strategy.

“By the end of 2010, India’s transition looked immaculate. From IT to business process management (BPM) and R&D centres, all worldwide groups started to mark their presence,” says Pradeep Agarwal. Meanwhile, enterprises across industries such as banking, retail, and healthcare also started deriving digital engineering work from their Indian development centres.

“Roll past 2010, and Indian software ecosystem has garnered exponential skills to tackle varied interests using the most compound IT systems ever,” says Agarwal.

He adds, one of the major reasons why India also managed this transition is the low cost of workforce in comparison to the Western nations. “The availability of technologies, and the presence of global venture capitalists implies the growth will keep surmounting, despite the onslaught of COVID-19.”

The present day stats indicate that more than 18 startups have climbed to US$1 billion in market capitalisation. For instance, Walmart bought India’s largest e-commerce company – Flipkart – at a valuation of US$21 billion. Another startup – OYO Rooms – a franchise hotel chain, commemorated in 2013, now has the largest number of rooms under management in India. All this has been possible because of software development, and the subsequent growth it has given to enterprises.

In the last few years, the trend has majorly seen small businesses take up the challenge and drive for innovations. The dynamic environment has ensured that they too had an equal chance to prosper.

The startup ecosystem in India attracted over US$10 billion in investments from venture capitalists from across the world between 2016 and 2018. US$6 billion has already been invested in Indian start-ups by SoftBank out of its US$100 billion Vision Fund.

Notably, this has driven huge employment, giving more than 400,000 engineers work in global R&D centers in India. Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, National Capital Region (Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon), and Chennai are key locations.

“The impact with the growth of IT Industry has multiplied exports, female empowerment, digital infrastructure and the startup ecosystem. It has also enhanced India’s global perception,” says Pradeep Agarwal.

He further states that exports in terms of revenue and foreign exchange have overhauled the nation’s finances, and are overseeing a large share of imports. Also, because of the IT sector, women have been able to play a commanding role, and form 30 per cent of the total numbers today.

India has become a gateway to success for firms from across the world. The software industry and advancements gave the nation a new beginning. Crucially, this also gave the country a much awaited possibility to counter being perceived as poor.

The future is clearly on the brighter side and the even the government has entered the frame.

“The Indian education infrastructure has been rapidly brought in to the frame. The government has already announced the creation of 17 new Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) to further improve the quality of engineering education,” says Agarwal.

With this vision, the authorities seek to provide future-ready manpower. The aim is that when these engineers graduate from their courses, they will champion at machine learning, cloud computing, and various other digital technologies.

This process will help India pump its per-capita income to US$3,500 by 2025. It will also create a huge consumer market, and give rise to more undertakings in the long term. Venture capital activities will gain massive domestic opportunities and the power up Indian start-ups to build global products.

Clearly, thirty years have changed a lot. The entire ecosystem has sustained, grown and delivered beyond satisfactory solutions. India’s ability today is what most countries still foresee as their upcoming future, while the nation can now focus on more advancement in each segment. Strong mobility network, education, and digital infrastructure built over the last decade are just a few examples, in the list that continues to grow rampantly.