Post Satyam scam Infosys chief to lead ethics committee

NASSCOM's corporate governance committee to focus on awareness, advocacy of best practices

NASSCOM's corporate governance committee to focus on awareness, advocacy of best practices

For change: NASSCOM chairman Ganesh Natarajan

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the consortium that serves as an interface to the Indian software industry and Indian BPO industry, has formed a corporate governance and ethics committee.

The move follows the unearthing of the over Rs 7,000 crore Satyam scam.
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NASSCOM Chairman Ganesh Natarajan told MiD DAY, "We will be looking at a range of best practices and next practices for corporate governance. The committee will focus on awareness and advocacy of best practices in the member community."

The committee, will be chaired by N R Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd, and will function as a permanent sub-committee under the aegis of the NASSCOM Executive Council.

"This is one of the initiatives being taken by the NASSCOM to strengthen corporate governance practices in the Indian IT-BPO industry," the association said.

NASSCOM President Som Mittal said, "The committee will work with authorities, policy makers and regulators, to achieve the objectives of this group."

The eight-member committee comprising industry experts, independent directors as well as academicians will meet at least three times a year to formulate strategies.

While the NASSCOM has issued an optimistic report on Indian IT and ITeS business, experts say that Satyam-like scams may lead to the bleeding of the economy.

What the NASSCOM report says

Export revenues are expected to reach $47 billion by the end of FY09, growth pegged at 16-17 per cent

Software and services revenues aggregated to $60 billion (including domestic revenues, excluding hardware)

Domestic IT-BPO market in India to cross INR 1110 billion by FY2009 growing at 20 per cent

Growth estimates for FY11 project $60-62 billion revenue in exports

Industry will continue to be a net hirer and focus on value creation, direct employment at 2.23 million; indirect
job creation estimated at $8 million