India’s Information Technology (IT) Services industry was a miracle of the 1990s. A fortuitous constellation of new tech and bold policies had created this wonder. The invention of the desktop internet was at the epicentre of this revolution. Shiny new private telecoms were laying cables and locking in global satellite connectivity.
Technology institutes were spewing out hordes of young engineers who could write and operate digital code. Their cost was a tiny fraction of peers in Europe and America. Indian entrepreneurs latched on to the digital highways and wage arbitrage to erect the back-office of the world. It was a win-win game.
The Westerners used cheap but highly skilled Indian workforce to expand profits. At home, giants like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL, and a clutch of pioneers swelled their balance sheets by billions of dollars. In the wink of a decade, India had created a $200-billion-plus behemoth.