BPO likely to contribute 3 per cent to India's GDP: various reports

Mumbai: India plans to become the most popular destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) operations. It is poised to overtake countries like the Philippines, Mexico and Ireland, according to India Business Insight.

The Gartner group has said the global BPO market has grown by 13 per cent during 1999-2000 and is likely to reach $234 billion by 2005. The Nasscom-McKinsey Report 2002 finds that revenue from BPO will reach $24 billion by 2008 and the IT-enabled services (ITES) sector will contribute 37 per cent to the total IT software and services export market.

The technological breakthrough with the Internet for communication across the globe has become the largest advantage for the success of the BPO business. The sector is expected to provide employment to 1.1 million people by 2008 as per a report by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom).

BPO is likely to contribute up to 3 per cent to India's gross domestic product (GDP). India has a pool of talent and has the second-largest English-speaking population with computer knowledge in the world after US. Also, costs are lower in India compared to other countries for outsourcing. The technology in India is state-of-the-art and the country is rightly located in terms of the geographical position.

The Indian government's policies for software and BPO also seem to be encouraging. India has to be wary of the security hazards in the industry and the problems in relation to infrastructure and power.