Nasscom's five point strategy for the future

Improve productivity Innovate Form alliances Collaborate Upgrade skills

There are 16.3 million personal computers in China compared to just 6.4 million in India, and China has almost three times as many internet users as India.

In China there are 165 million mobile phone subscribers, India has only six million.

China is also far more advanced in the number of fixed line telephone connections and high telecoms bandwidth capacity.

However, the report also found average wage costs in China were 15-20% higher than in India, and Chinese companies lacked domain expertise and project management skills.

Planning for the future

Nasscom will be meeting with the Indian government to discuss its findings and draw up a plan to ensure that the country maintains its competitive advantage in the industry.

It identified five key focus areas.

Companies must increase productivity, innovate and form alliances to bid for more complex projects, and maximise capacity.

They must collaborate with academic institutions to develop products and technologies, and must ensure that the high skill level of Indian workers is strengthened in areas such as project management, languages and software engineering.

Nasscom was formed in 1988 to ensure India's software-driven IT industry remains globally competitive.

Its 870 member companies make up more than 95% of India's software industry revenue.