IT Services & Offshoring has done a tremendous job of putting brand India on the global map. In fact such a good job that the well being of India is very closely associated to IT services by many people. Ever so often, I am questioned about what will happen to the great Indian growth story if Indian IT exports dip?
Though the contribution of IT & ITeS (IT enabled Services) to the GDP* is increasing by the day, for 2005-06 this number was 4.8%. By 2007-08 this industry is expected to be contributing as much as 7%. It is interesting to note though that the industry has contributed up to 20 percent of the incremental GDP growth over the last 4-5 years.
As this article on the NASSCOM site explains, IT has had a much more diversified impact on the Indian economy than what the current contribution numbers indicate.
* The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world as measured by Purchasing Power Parity.