Mr Rajendra S Pawar is the Chairman and co-founder of the NIIT Group, which has two businesses – NIIT Technologies Ltd, the software and services arm and NIIT Ltd, the leading Global Talent Development Corporation.

Set up in 1981, NIIT pioneered the computer education market in India, creating a completely new industry segment.

In second quarter of FY 2011-12, NIIT Technology had acquired Madrid-based software company Proyecta.

In an interview on the sidelines of Nasscom's (National Association of Software and Service Companies) Tech-Unique 1.0, the former chairman of organisation talks about NIIT's projects, Proyecta's integration and the overall climate in the IT industry.

Has the integration of Proyecta with NIIT Tech been completed?

The integration is done and has come out better than expected. It has been a good acquisition for us.

Are you going to focus on the Latin American markets with the acquisitions?

We had said earlier that we will give Proyecta a year of integration and then we will start looking at the other (Latin American) markets. We have to give it a couple of quarters to settle before we look at these markets.

What is the update of NIIT's “playground kiosks” project in Bhutan?

We have completed around two years of the project. Fifty-odd kiosks have been set up so far in the first phase of the project. We will be setting up around 130 such kiosks eventually and these will be there in another year.

Going by the present market conditions, how do you see currency fluctuations impacting results?

In the last two quarters, the (currency) fluctuations have been unpredictable. So when you are looking at company results, we should segregate the impacts of currency fluctuations that can cloud the analysis.

In the current global scenario, what are the challenges for the IT industry in the country?

The US is getting into a positive zone. It continues to be a big market for Indian companies. And Indian companies continue to create value there. Euro Zone is good news, bad news and good news. It goes up and down. But the biggest economies there are at least doing okay. But that, we have to keep watching.

The acquisition processes are going on. These are good times to acquire for Indian companies. So when you acquire you create local jobs or save local jobs.

So does the Nasscom have plans of changing its export growth forecast for FY 2012-13 from the projected 11 per cent to 14 per cent?

We have no reason to currently revise it. We are holding on to that. If you look at the mix of results then you will see things are on track.

But yes, everyday some unnerving news is happening in some part of the world.

This quarter results, however, do not give us a reason to be concerned. Although there is no evidence of a slowdown, we can not say that things will grow very fast. So the uncertainty continues.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

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