Trust the Gujarati entrepreneur to think different in a crisis. And so it is that when the IT-BPO industry is fearing the worst following the global meltdown, companies in Gujarat believe that there is enough happening to actually rejoice.

Not only are they gung-ho about the rupee depreciation against the dollar which they believe will add to their kitty, the ITeS companies in the state expect the slump in the US to actually lead to more projects.

A report in the Economic Times quotes Contec BPO chief executive Rajan Vasa as stating that his company had already bagged two new projects in the last couple of months as the finance and insurance companies in the US and Europe began the cost-cutting exercise through outsourcing more work. He claimed there was a spurt in client enquiries and expects some new projects to kick-off soon.

The entrepreneurs believe that more business would come their way in the next two to three months as American companies begin to act after ascertaining their losses. The newspaper quoted Kaushal Mehta of Motif Inc as saying that the firm was finalizing deals with US-based clients. The US companies are now left with no option but to outsource, he was quoted as saying.

In fact, the only reason for caution amongst the ITeS companies stems from the fact that they are themselves unsure about the financial health of prospective clients who approach them with work. The ET quotes GESIA chief Nirav Shah as saying that even European banks now have the Indian ITeS firms on their radar as India has a head start over other countries in terms of BPO skills.