By DK Aggarwal After some years of patchy drive, the Indian information technology (IT) industry, which contributes around 7.9 per cent to the country's GDP, is on an upward trajectory.
Globally, much of the growth is being fuelled by the robust infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market, with hybrid and multi-cloud rising as the architecture of choice.
The rapid evolution of machines, algorithms in workplaces and increased adoption of next-generation technologies by organisations, have also accelerated demand for IT services at home.
Besides, government trust on higher spending on initiatives like Digital India and Smart Cities will continue to drive growth.
All the digital projects, which were under way over the past couple of years, are now going mainstream.
Performance of the many IT companies in the past few quarters clearly reflects an uphill performance.Indian IT companies have continued their investments in big bet areas such as digital, cyber security, engineering services and cloud.
Now, software applications have got replaced or shifted to cloud.
Also, hiring in the top Indian IT companies has touched an eight-year high, which indicates industry confidence in future demand scenario.
Undoubtedly, new digital technologies such as social media, mobility, analytics and cloud computing (SMAC) have brought immense changes in the way Indian IT companies do business.On the flip side, emerging protectionist policies in the developed world to combat trade war effects may affect Indian IT to some extent.
US President Donald Trumps visa policies may also affect margins of Indian IT companies, which have operations in the US.
However, Indian IT companies have adopted the global delivery model and are investing on setting up development centres in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Eastern European countries to take advantage of low cost and cater to local markets.
In the US, if the visa situation worsens, these centres will help avoid the risks of the new immigration bill and help lower pressure on margins.Going forward, a planned focus on domestic business opportunities and well-crafted solutions to meet the challenges of new age economic trends in retail, financials, healthcare and media would continue to benefit India IT companies immensely.
Technologies, such as telemedicine, remote monitoring solutions and clinical information systems will also continue to boost demand for IT services across the globe.
Indias IT industry has expanded at a CAGR of 10.71 per cent to $11,65,000 crore in FY18 from $51,8000 crore in FY10 and there is an expectation that the industry size will grow to $24,50,000 crore by 2025.
This is a good opportunity for investors to look at IT stocks as these bright prospects (expected) can help them to earn solid returns.
Investors have a good opportunity to make money in stocks like TCS, Wipro, HCL tech and Tech Mahindra by investing in a staggered manner.693834856878919767536783