New Delhi, Tuesday, May 06, 2008 : NASSCOM, the premier trade body of the Indian IT-BPO industry, along with A.T Kearney, released the findings of a first of its kind report on the assessment of 50 locations in India suitable for the IT - BPO industry titled ‘Roadmap ‘Location Roadmap For IT- BPO Growth: Assessment Of 50 Leading Cities’.

According to the study, Tier 2 cities have the potential to account for 40% of the total projected BPO and IT jobs by 2018. But this would be possible if the government is able to provide an environment favorable to growth in this sector

The study adds that big BPO hubs like NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune will continue to be the leading destinations. But cities like Ahmedabad, Kochi, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Nagpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, Tiruchirapalli and Visakhapatnam are fast emerging as the key ‘challengers’.

The report states that if the industry follows a balanced growth, non-leading cities could provide three million direct jobs, 40%of the projected employment by 2018. Currently the leading locations account for over 85% of IT sector employment and over 90% of the BPO employment in the country.

Speaking about the rationale of the report, Mr.Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM said, “The development of only a few select set of cities has put severe pressure on the infrastructure, costs and also increased migration of resources. We see immense potential in the next set of locations if the right steps are taken now.” The study indicates that the government needs to support and encourage development of these areas by extension of the STPI/SEZ like tax benefits as there are few SEZ’s in these locations.

The study provides a detailed gap analysis along with advantages and shortcomings of these 50 locations, setting the stage for the next wave of the industry’s growth beyond the top 7 cities.