– Murthy addresses IT critics

Another useful speech from Murthy as always!

I guess three things are important.. ONE, the infrastructure (like a subway system, roads, and better basic sanitation system), two: Improvement in pollution levels (dust is a major culprit where smoke is not that much like in Delhi), three: free up the real estate through changes in Rent Control act to make ownership is foregone conclusion of whose name the property is in.. and NOT a matter of squatting! Until then this “Indian IT dream” will be in danger.

“Today, the world has recognised Bangalore as a place that offers high quality talent at an affordable price.”

“No industry other than IT in India, either in the past or post-Independence, has been able to generate 2.2 million jobs. In Bangalore alone, the industry has given jobs to three lakh people.

“Of the 6.5 million people in Bangalore, a whopping one million have IT and IT-related jobs. No other industry in the history of Bangalore has created so many jobs,” he said.

Indirectly referring to the critics of the IT sector, Narayana Murthy said, “It is easy for the industry to go to some other part of India – Chennai or elsewhere. But it is important that we open our eyes to the fact that the IT industry has created a whopping one million jobs in Bangalore.”

The number of IT industries in Bangalore has grown from 364 to 1,650. He added that 150 companies are joining the list every year. There is no other city in India that has 622 MNCs. “This is enough to encourage the IT industry,” he said.

It should also be noted that while Indian IT sector contributes 3.5 per cent to the GDP, in China it is 5.7 per cent, US 7.9 per cent, and Israel 7.4 per cent. “We are yet to go that far,” Murthy said.

“This is the time for us to prepare a plan for the estimated 47 million who will be jobless by 2020 and ensure that they will not be without a job. If this population remains jobless it will lead to disastrous consequences. This is important for our leaders to realise and create more and more jobs early,” Murthy said.

Exports have reached $17.2 billion in 2004-05 from $164 million in 1991. The annual growth rate has been 38 per cent. It is expected to grow from $57 billion dollars to $65 billion by 2008.

A whopping 50 per cent of the companies that have earned quality accreditation from the Software Engineering Institute are from India.

For the first time in India since [the year] 1600, we have an opportunity to participate in the global bazaar. This is an extraordinary achievement, Murthy said.

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