Japanese curbs must go, say IT players

BANGALORE, AUG 19: Unless the existing Japanese restrictions on India are scrapped, the much-hyped and awaited visit of Nippon premier Yos...

BANGALORE, AUG 19: Unless the existing Japanese restrictions on India are scrapped, the much-hyped and awaited visit of Nippon premier Yoshiro Mori to India may not bear much fruit, according to infotech industry observers. However, the industry has generally welcomed the premier’s visit, even while calling upon agencies like Nasscom and IT Task Force to work out on certain operational difficulties.

However, Vashistha felt that much interaction may not be possible, since there were several restrictions imposed by Japan on India on technology transfer and related issues. "Indian companies planning to set up offshore bases in Japan may face problems in exporting their products/solutions/services back to India, due to these restrictions," he said. The restrictions also may hamper interactions between the countries, slowing down the entire process, he added.

Japan turned its gaze to India as software costs began to shoot up in the US, said Kshema Technologies Ltd president & CEO Anant R Koppar. “It is a welcome move on the part of the Japanese government to check out Indian IT resources. So far, only Japanese corporates have done this exercise and hence, no substantial IT work has been outsourced to India,” he said.

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However, Koppar countered the view that the existing restrictions might hamper IT interactions between the countries and said that such restrictions need not impact the IT businesses.

In the past, Kshema Technologies made an attempt to set up an office in Japan, but was not successful due to various non-conducive issues.

CBS India chief operating officer K Subramanyam said Japan was likely to increase its oursourcing to India considerably, as things have changed in Japan.

He said it was important for India and Japan to work out a clear business framework. "Japan is synonymous with quality and Indian IT sector will be the right area where the country can find favour with," Subramanyam said.

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In the IT scene, China is perceived to be the immediate threat to India. In terms of proximity and language, China holds an advantage over India, he said. However, Japanese grammar shared close similarities with Tamil grammar; therefore, it could be easy for Indians to pick up Japanese, he said.

CBS India currently has over 300 personnel working exclusively on various IT projects for Japan in the emerging technology areas including banking and middleware.