Nasscom expects milder immigration reform bill from US House of Representatives

Indian IT and software services industry lobby body Nasscom is hopeful that the US House of Representatives will not take up the Immigration Refrm bill passed by the American Senate last month.

Som Mittal, president, Nasscom, told reporters that the House of Representatives would have its own piece of legislation relating to immigration reform.

According to him, it was unlikely that the proposed bill, seen as damanging the Indian IT sector, would be passed soon, nor would it have 'damaging provisions' that could hurt the Indian IT sector.

According to the industry body, the sector's hiring patterns have changed this year, with greater focus on soft skills and domainp-based specialisation. "Hiring might not be the same from this year, since the hiring patterns have changed," said Mittal. And with slower attrition rates in the industry, hiring rates are expected to be slower.

Mittal notes that the number of IT graduates has soared in India. While in 2005, there were just 36,500 IT graduates, this year the figure is expected to top 1.3 million. Almost a third of the graduates were women.

The Indian IT sector, which was used to growth rates of 30 to 35 per cent, has slowed down sharply. Nasscomexpects it to expand at a modest pace of 12 to 14 per cent this year. The domestic sector is expected to touch nearly $50 billion by 2020. Currently, the domestic market is worth $16 billion.