Defying the global meltdown, Karnataka earned $17 billion (Rs.74,929 crore) from software exports last fiscal (2008-09) as against Rs.60,800 crore the previous year, registering a 23 per cent growth in rupee terms and 21.5 per cent in dollar terms.
"The export performance of the IT industry in the state, especially Bangalore, demonstrates the knowledge sector remains unaffected by the global meltdown and decline in IT spending overseas," state Information Minister Katta Subbramanya Naidu told reporters here.
As India's tech hub, Bangalore accounted for Rs.72,506 crore or 97 per cent of the state's total exports, while the remaining Rs.2,423 crore are from tier-two cities such as Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli-Dharwad, registering 45 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth.
India's combined software exports -- spanning services, products and business process outsourcing (BPO) -- grew 21 per cent to $50 billion (Rs.2.22 trillion) as against $41 billion (Rs.1.84 trillion) in 2007-08.
Karnataka accounted for 34 per cent of the country's total software exports last fiscal.
"The growth is substantial especially in the current economic scenario. The state retains its top position in the sector, including exports," Naidu said.
Naidu said the state had set a target of $20 billion (Rs.1,000 billion) this fiscal.
Incidentally, the industry's representative body, National Association of Software Services and Companies (Nasscom), has forecast India's software exports this fiscal to be around $48-50 billion.
According to R. Rajalakshmi, director of the Bangalore chapter of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Karnataka's software export revenues are from the 1,200 firms registered with the STPI and software-related special economic zones.
Eighty-four software units will be set up in the state this fiscal, including 35 with foreign equity, two Indian majors and 47 small and medium enterprises, with a combined investment of Rs.465 crore.
In spite of voluntary attrition and lay-offs in the BPO sector, employment in the software industry in the state increased by 34,000 to 554,000 in 2008-09.
Agencies
Showing posts with label 2008-09. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008-09. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Retailers tighten belts at Dubai shopping festival
Some big Dubai retailers, accustomed to giddy spending in the Gulf Arab tax-free haven, are grappling with a drop in sales as consumers worry about the impact of the global financial crisis on their wallets.
The Gulf has not been as heavily hit by the credit crisis as Europe and the US, but the contagion has led to stock market routs, tight lending conditions and a range of government and central bank attempts to mitigate its impact.
In the United Arab Emirates, home to the glitzy financial hub of Dubai where shopping is virtually a national sport, a frisson of fear has seeped into consumers' minds.
"Business is 20 per cent down in the last week in retail," Mohi-din Bin Hendi, president of Bin Hendi Enterprises, told Reuters.
"In the beginning, people did not take it seriously. When they start to get their ATM cards refused from the bank, that's when sense come back ... that this is serious."
Bin Hendi, whose retail-based conglomerate operates in the Gulf Arab region and India and offers everything from jewelry to sofas, said the firm would take steps to ready for a further decline in consumer spending and would "cut the desirables, go to the essentials."
Asked whether he would cut jobs, he said: "Absolutely. We have not come to a figure as yet."
"People with wise moves won't suffer as much as those who think this is only a cloudy day and it'll clear up tomorrow. It won't clear up tomorrow that easily.
"We have to sit tight, cut down our costs and be smart."
Dubai consumers have begun to see uncomfortable signs on the crisis' toll on the city, long known for spending excesses.
Companies are quietly shedding jobs or not hiring, according to recruiters, while the Arab world's biggest listed developer, Emaar Properties EMAR.DU recently gave buyers more time to pay for new homes given difficulties in obtaining mortgages.
The UAE's biggest bank has stopped lending to foreigners who work for top Dubai property firms on fears a slowdown could jeopardize their jobs and income and an Islamic mortgage lender, Amlak AMLK.DU, has suspended new loans altogether for now.
Less spending per person
"There is less footfall in the stores, people are tightening their belts," said a retail manager who declined to be identified. "It's never been like this before."
The global financial meltdown came just as the world's biggest mall opened in Dubai and nearly each week has seen the announcement of one lavish retail exercise after another.
This week, British luxury retailer Burberry said it had created a new firm with its UAE franchisee, Jashanmal, that would manage all its retail and wholesale operations in the Gulf Arab region.
Jashanmal Group President Gangu Batra said forming the joint venture made business sense given its long ties to the British firm but the timing could have been better.
"Now all we can say is I hope it doesn't affect us too much. There will be some effect and we will see that effect in the course of time," he told Reuters.
Batra said same-store sales on a yearly basis were steady at the retailer, which operates department stores, booksellers and franchises for brands like Calvin Klein, but the firm was bracing for a slowdown in the wider economy in coming months.
"People are still there but spending per person has gone down," he said. "I don't think our country will be immune to these problems.
"I can see some slowdown when I go to restaurants and hotels. The view is, so far, there's no reduction in the tourists but then when they do the booking, they do so months in advance."
According to a 2007 annual country report, visitors to Dubai represent 69 per cent of all luxury retail and leisure spending.
Batra said spending levels were likely to decline even further once the current wave of vacationers head home.
Caution has seeped into every aspect of consumer spending. One Dubai-based dentist said business had fallen about 40 percent this year. "People see it as cosmetic rather than essential," she said.
Source: Reuters
The Gulf has not been as heavily hit by the credit crisis as Europe and the US, but the contagion has led to stock market routs, tight lending conditions and a range of government and central bank attempts to mitigate its impact.
In the United Arab Emirates, home to the glitzy financial hub of Dubai where shopping is virtually a national sport, a frisson of fear has seeped into consumers' minds.
"Business is 20 per cent down in the last week in retail," Mohi-din Bin Hendi, president of Bin Hendi Enterprises, told Reuters.
"In the beginning, people did not take it seriously. When they start to get their ATM cards refused from the bank, that's when sense come back ... that this is serious."
Bin Hendi, whose retail-based conglomerate operates in the Gulf Arab region and India and offers everything from jewelry to sofas, said the firm would take steps to ready for a further decline in consumer spending and would "cut the desirables, go to the essentials."
Asked whether he would cut jobs, he said: "Absolutely. We have not come to a figure as yet."
"People with wise moves won't suffer as much as those who think this is only a cloudy day and it'll clear up tomorrow. It won't clear up tomorrow that easily.
"We have to sit tight, cut down our costs and be smart."
Dubai consumers have begun to see uncomfortable signs on the crisis' toll on the city, long known for spending excesses.
Companies are quietly shedding jobs or not hiring, according to recruiters, while the Arab world's biggest listed developer, Emaar Properties EMAR.DU recently gave buyers more time to pay for new homes given difficulties in obtaining mortgages.
The UAE's biggest bank has stopped lending to foreigners who work for top Dubai property firms on fears a slowdown could jeopardize their jobs and income and an Islamic mortgage lender, Amlak AMLK.DU, has suspended new loans altogether for now.
Less spending per person
"There is less footfall in the stores, people are tightening their belts," said a retail manager who declined to be identified. "It's never been like this before."
The global financial meltdown came just as the world's biggest mall opened in Dubai and nearly each week has seen the announcement of one lavish retail exercise after another.
This week, British luxury retailer Burberry said it had created a new firm with its UAE franchisee, Jashanmal, that would manage all its retail and wholesale operations in the Gulf Arab region.
Jashanmal Group President Gangu Batra said forming the joint venture made business sense given its long ties to the British firm but the timing could have been better.
"Now all we can say is I hope it doesn't affect us too much. There will be some effect and we will see that effect in the course of time," he told Reuters.
Batra said same-store sales on a yearly basis were steady at the retailer, which operates department stores, booksellers and franchises for brands like Calvin Klein, but the firm was bracing for a slowdown in the wider economy in coming months.
"People are still there but spending per person has gone down," he said. "I don't think our country will be immune to these problems.
"I can see some slowdown when I go to restaurants and hotels. The view is, so far, there's no reduction in the tourists but then when they do the booking, they do so months in advance."
According to a 2007 annual country report, visitors to Dubai represent 69 per cent of all luxury retail and leisure spending.
Batra said spending levels were likely to decline even further once the current wave of vacationers head home.
Caution has seeped into every aspect of consumer spending. One Dubai-based dentist said business had fallen about 40 percent this year. "People see it as cosmetic rather than essential," she said.
Source: Reuters
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Recession likely to continue for six months, says Bill Gates
Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, expects US economy to reel under global financial slow down for more than six months. However, Gates hopes, the rapid economic and technological advancements made by emerging economies like China and India in last decade will see to it that slow down impact is temporary. "There is no doubt that there is going to be economic crisis in the US. There are imbalances in the US and economy will have weakness," said Gates.
"I can not predict whether the financial crisis will be two years or three years, but it will be more than six month and then the economy will get back on track" forecasted Gates. Addressing the packed gathering here at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gates however sounded confident in his assessment that global economy has changed enough to ward of crisis resulting from meltdown in the housing market and heavy consumer debt.
"If you look at the world and US economy since 1990, the results have been really phenomenal. The fact that India has liberalized and grown it economy.. The fact that China is now a global player. The world economy benefits from this scale, being able to trade products and being able to collaborate with brilliant minds", said Gates.
"It won’t be a long term impact. I take five or ten year’s view. Company like Microsoft are not cutting back on it research. The benefits of these researches will be delivered on time,” added Gates.
"Even though we are going to have a little bit of challenge in the US, we are not going to erase the policy maps the we have made, nor are we going to stop from going back on the map” added Gates.
"New medicines, new materials, are coming as planned in the next decade,", he added.
Gates added that US economic downturn need not be extended to other countries. “I think markets have overreacted", he added.
Talking about their research projects here, Gates said that in their research laboratory here - half of whose staff are from the IITs - developed a medium through which the farming community can benefit.
"They would have wanted to give the farmers a personal computer, but knowing the limitations, they developed a video DVD in which they filmed farmers using the best farming practices and talking in local languages. These practices were later reviewed by experts and presented in an appealing manner," Gates noted.
"Of course, a more interactive medium would have been better and we are working towards it. But for now, the farming community is happy to sit around a TV set in a village and pick up practices that benefit them," Gates said.
"I can not predict whether the financial crisis will be two years or three years, but it will be more than six month and then the economy will get back on track" forecasted Gates. Addressing the packed gathering here at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gates however sounded confident in his assessment that global economy has changed enough to ward of crisis resulting from meltdown in the housing market and heavy consumer debt.
"If you look at the world and US economy since 1990, the results have been really phenomenal. The fact that India has liberalized and grown it economy.. The fact that China is now a global player. The world economy benefits from this scale, being able to trade products and being able to collaborate with brilliant minds", said Gates.
"It won’t be a long term impact. I take five or ten year’s view. Company like Microsoft are not cutting back on it research. The benefits of these researches will be delivered on time,” added Gates.
"Even though we are going to have a little bit of challenge in the US, we are not going to erase the policy maps the we have made, nor are we going to stop from going back on the map” added Gates.
"New medicines, new materials, are coming as planned in the next decade,", he added.
Gates added that US economic downturn need not be extended to other countries. “I think markets have overreacted", he added.
Talking about their research projects here, Gates said that in their research laboratory here - half of whose staff are from the IITs - developed a medium through which the farming community can benefit.
"They would have wanted to give the farmers a personal computer, but knowing the limitations, they developed a video DVD in which they filmed farmers using the best farming practices and talking in local languages. These practices were later reviewed by experts and presented in an appealing manner," Gates noted.
"Of course, a more interactive medium would have been better and we are working towards it. But for now, the farming community is happy to sit around a TV set in a village and pick up practices that benefit them," Gates said.
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