Stats to know when outsourcing to India

As the saying goes, it takes two to tango-or in this case-outsource. The reasons behind the phenomenal success of the Indian outsourcing industry, and the global outsourcing industry in general, has been Western capital and technology, and the sheer brainpower of Indians. Talented, ready to take root anywhere in the world, and blessed with extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit, India and its outsourcing industry stands tall today due to India and its people.

Economy
Indian outsourcing has marched in step with India's economic progress. In the past two decades, India has been making sustained progress on a scale, size, and pace that is unprecedented in its own history.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate (2008-09)-7.1 per cent

GDP (Purchasing Power Poverty) 2008-09-$3.298 trillion

GDP (nominal) 2008-09-$1.242 trillion

The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies with an average growth rate of 9 per cent over the past four years. Outsourcing and outsourcing companies lie at the center of this growth.

The Indian middle class is projected to grow to 368 million by 2010-and will in turn create demand for outsourcing.

Nearly 60 per cent of its population is between the age of 15-59, and more than half below the age of 25. Since the outsourcing industry mostly employs young professionals, India's young population is an advantage in comparison to other outsourcing destinations.

The world's second largest labor force, with 516.3 million people, is in India. They come useful in many outsourcing industries such as auto parts outsourcing, etc.

India has a planned target of making 20 kms of roads every day for the next five years. Road infrastructure will improve the environment for outsourcing-especially manufacturing outsourcing.

India's retail industry, the largest industry in India, employs around 8 per cent of the country's population, and contributes to over 10 per cent of the country's GDP.

The Indian retail market, which is the fifth largest retail destination globally, has been ranked as the most attractive emerging market for investment in the retail sector by global management consulting firm AT Kearney's eighth annual Global Retail Development Index.

The $400-billion Indian retail sector is recording an annual growth rate of 30 per cent. It is projected to grow to $ 700 billion by 2010, according to a report by global consultancy Northbridge Capital.

Thus, India's retail sector offers massive opportunity for retail outsourcing companies due to its young and skilled workforce.

India has emerged the third most attractive market destination for apparel retailers, according to a study by AT Kearney. The Northbridge Capital report states that apparel is the "largest organized retail category", accounting for 39 per cent of the organized market in India.

The Indian airline industry is expected to grow by 8.5 per cent per year till 2015.

The contribution of travel and tourism to India's GDP is expected to be at six per cent ($67.3 billion) in 2009 rising to $187.3 billion by 2019.

The travel and tourism sector, which accounted for 6.4 per cent of total employment or one in every 15.6 jobs in 2009, is expected to generate 40,037,000 jobs by 2019.

The $18.9 billion FMCG industry in India is expected register a 15 per cent growth in 2010. Even during the economic slowdown, the FMCG industry registered a 12 per cent growth.

The Indian automobile market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 9.5 per cent to $1.3 billion in 2010.

Even defense outsourcing, including outsourcing by the government through domestic government set ups, will only move in one direction-up.

India's Ministry of Defense spent $8.5 billion in 2008-09 on defense procurement. About $100 billion will be spent on defense procurement over the next five years.

Education
Three Indian universities are listed in the Times Higher Education list of the world's top 200 universities-Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Six Indian Institutes of Technology and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science-Pilani were listed among the top 20 science and technology schools in Asia by Asiaweek magazine.

The Indian School of Business situated in Hyderabad was ranked number 15 in global MBA rankings by the Financial Times of London in 2009.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been recognized as a global leader in medical research and treatment. Medical outsourcing is a multi-million industry in India.

India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China, and the United States.

Every year, approximately 19 million students are enrolled in high schools and 10 million students in pre-graduate degree courses across India.

As of 2009, India has 20 central universities, 215 state universities, 100 deemed universities, 5 institutions established and functioning under the State Act, and 13 institutes which are of national importance.

Other institutions include 16000 colleges, including 1800 exclusive women's colleges, functioning universities and institutions.

The IITs enroll about 8000 students annually, and the alumni have contributed to the growth of the private and public sectors, as well as outsourcing of different kinds including Engineering Services Outsourcing, and Knowledge Process Outsourcing, etc.

India produces 2.5 million university graduates.

20 per cent of India's university graduates, or 500,000, are engineering majors-who form a major chunk of India's outsourcing industry in terms of entrepreneurship and management talent.

In 2008-09, there were 2,297 engineering colleges with a total student intake capacity of 819,000 students; and close to 1,500 management institutes with an annual intake of 150,000 students.

Total number of private and government medical colleges in India-275.

Number of people who can speak English in India-more than 90 million out of a total population of 1.17 billion.

By 2010, it is estimated that India will have the highest number of English speakers in the world. Already, more than 11 per cent of its population speak English.

IT and outsourcing
India has the largest pool of suitable offshore talent-accounting for 28 per cent of the total suitable pool available across all offshore destinations. It outpaces the share of the next closest destination, China, by a factor of 2.5.

India has 44.8 per cent of the total outsourcing pie and China 25.9 per cent.

India's share in global offshore outsourcing is 60 per cent.

The revenue of the information technology sector has grown from 1.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1997-98 to an estimated 5.8 per cent in 2008-09.

In India, IT and ITES-BPO professionals have grown from 284,000 in 1999-2000 to 2.23 million in 2008-09 (excluding employment in the hardware sector)-a growth of 10.9 per cent year on year.

Amid signs of economic recovery, the Indian IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) market is projected to grow by 15 per cent in 2010

Revenue from the Indian IT-BPO sector grew by 12 per cent in 2008-09 to reach US$ 71.7 billion in aggregate revenue.

India's software and BPO industry is projected to grow by 15 per cent annually till 2010-11 to log export revenues alone of $60-62 billion.

India's outsourcing industry is projected to earn $175 billion in exports by 2020.

India has more than 7,500 Software Technology Parks (STP), and 1,600 registered Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) outfits in 21 major locations across India. Companies from all parts of the world outsource various services to hundreds of outsourcing companies in India. These outsourcing companies, starting from simple outsourcing work have now graduated to complex outsourcing projects-making India the leading outsourcing destination of the world.

Comparison of India vis-a-vis other key locations such as China reveal that cost of BPO is 4-185 per cent lower in India than the popularly cited alternatives.

Over 600 MNCs outsource product development and engineering services from their centers in India-leading them to outsource critical Research & Development.

Since the beginning of 2009, 22,000 green technology jobs have been outsourced to India.

As per estimates, in green outsourcing, India can generate a phenomenal 900,000 jobs by 2025 in the area of biogas alone.

Internet and telecommunication
India has 81 million Internet users - the the third largest in Asia behind China-338 million and Japan-94 million. User growth has been 1,500 per cent in 2000-09. India's Internet users form 11 per cent of all Internet users in Asia. Both Internet and telecommunication industries have greatly increased India's outsourcing revenue.

India has more than 350 million mobile subscribers, which are set to rise to a phenomenal 650 million by 2012. Global telecommunication companies have set up manufacturing outsourcing subsidiaries to cater to the exploding Indian mobile market.

The total telephone subscriber base (mobile and fixed) had passed 400 million.

India is a space power
India is the first country to be successful in its maiden moon venture, and in landing a probe on the lunar pole.

India's mission to the moon, Chandrayaan, carried the largest suite of scientific instruments ever to be carried to the moon-14.

At $84.6 million, it is the cheapest moon mission of the 21st century.

By launching 10 satellites in a single shot, India's space agency ISRO created a world record in April 2008.

India today has the largest constellation of civilian remote sensing satellites in the world-nine in all.

With 11 communication and weather satellites, India's fleet in space is the largest in the Asia Pacific region.

India's rising prowess in space technology has lead to a spurt in aerospace outsourcing. ISRO and other space organizations are increasingly turning to domestic and international outsourcing companies, and are outsourcing manufacturing projects.

India's power plans
Under India's National Action Plan, the government will deploy 15,000 megawatts of renewable power by 2012; 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2020; and increase nuclear capacity to 40,000 megawatts by 2032.

This is good news for the global outsourcing industry. Even India's domestic outsourcing industry will gain as outsourcing vendors in engineering, nuclear, and green technology are likely to gain from outsourcing contracts emanating from India's rising energy needs.

Soft power
Sometimes India's explosive soft power has an indirect effect on outsourcing in creating goodwill for things Indian.

Yoga is practiced in more than 100 countries. Indian films are seen in many countries of the world. Indian food and restaurants are popular in every part of the world. Indian ancient medicine forms such as Ayurveda, artists, spiritual leaders, culture, and tourism are making waves in the West and other countries. Many of these areas have witnessed the involvement of domestic and foreign outsourcing companies.

Also adding to India's soft power are Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin.

Over 25 million people of Indian origin live outside India'making them a powerful new global community, forming the second largest Diaspora in the world.

The latest US censuses reveal that Indians are the richest immigrant class in the US-with nearly 200,000 millionaires. Many of them have greatly contributed to outsourcing-especially IT outsourcing, ITES outsourcing, and outsourcing of numerous other products and services.

An American organization has even tested the IQ of Indian-Americans, and places them at about 112 on a bell-shaped IQ distribution, with white Americans at 100.

In the 2007-08 academic year 94,600 Indian students enrolled in American universities-the seventh consecutive year that India has sent the most international students to the US.

The 1.5-million strong British-Indian community is the second richest among different ethnic groups-second only to white British. Many Indians in the U.K. have formed outsourcing companies.