India's Disadvantages in Software

Abstract

It may seem unusual to consider India's disadvantages in software, as so far discussions have focused only on India's advantages in the sector. This is especially so since software is presently held as the engine of growth, not only for the information technology (IT) sector, but also for the Indian economy as a whole. However, a deeper look at the sector gives a different perspective. The very structure of the Indian software industry, focused on low-end services, is disadvantaged in the long run. The indigenous base of the sector is not sufficiently developed to sustain software export. Software exports themselves provide inflated magnitudes, and the major items exported are devoid of future potential. There are also various other disabilities related to areas like quality, manpower, labour cost advantages, infrastructure, research and development (R&D), marketing and finance. An appropriate growth strategy directing change of emphasis to various aspects, as detailed in the article, needs to be adopted to overcome these disadvantages, so that the Indian software industry is kept advantaged in the long run.