Meltdown can be beneficial for India

MUMBAI: The ongoing financial meltdown could be a boon for the Indian IT industry as it offers an opportunity to foreign players to invest in India in order to cut cost, an industry expert said.

"The global meltdown is an opportunity for our customers to come to India. We (IT industry) faced a crisis in 2001. Our customers came to India in 2001," IT company Mastek founder Ashank Desai told reporters at the India IT 2020 Conference.

"Present meltdown is a problem especially when iconic names are disappearing. It has an impact on IT business when organisations are looking at controlling costs," TCS CFO S Mahalingam said.

The Indian IT industry has to offer additional value in this troubled times, he said.

Post-Satyam fiasco, the issue of corporate governance is being raised and it could become tough for smaller IT companies, Desai said.

"Many companies look at governance before becoming our customers. Now, the checklists would be vigorous," he said.

The focus of India IT 2020 is to deliberate on how the country can leverage emerging technologies to attain global leadership on business as well as societal fronts.