The Race to $10 Billion ; Who'll Get There First: Tcs, Infosys, or Wipro?

Business Today › May 05, 2006

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Summary

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro, three Indian companies the world knows best, members of the exclusive club that is Tier-I of the Indian software services business and darlings of the stock market won't admit it, but they are, all of them, participants in a race to touch the $10-billion- in-revenues (Rs 45,000 crore) mark. All three should reach this mark by 2010, maybe sooner. At stake are bragging rights and universal recognition that the company in question has indeed arrived on the international it firmament.

They have size on their side and in industry-lingo, this provides traction. As Nandan Nilekani, CEO, President, and Managing Director of Infosys, points out, it took his company 23 years to reach the $1 billion (Rs 4,500 crore) mark and another 23 months to reach $2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore). They also have the dynamics of the global offshoring business on their side. A report by India's software lobby NASSCOM and consulting firm McKinsey puts the size of the offshoring business at $110 billion (Rs 4,95,000 crore) by 2010. If India were to maintain its current share, that would mean an industry worth $60 billion (Rs 2,70,000 crore). With some luck, that could be $75 billion (Rs 3,37,500 crore). And it is more than likely that a little over $30 billion (Rs 1,35,000 crore) of this will come from TCS, Infosys and Wipro. Each of the companies has something going for it: TCS, the ability to win big, really big deals; Infosys, the very fact that the company in its entirety is one mean (and very effective) marketing machine; and Wipro, its innovative streak and willingness to make as many strategic acquisitions as need be. So, who'll get there first?