How Has The Indian Software Industry Progressed So Fast?

The Indian software industry has emerged despite a poor information technology infrastructure. In 2000 India had just five personal computers per 1000 people compared to 588 per 1000 in the United States. In explaining the success of their industry, India's software entrepreneurs point to a number of factors. Although the general education level in India is low. India's important middle class is highly educated and its top educational instructions are world class. Also India has always emphasized engineering. Another great plus from an international perceptive is that English is the working language throughout much of middle-class.

India is remnant from the days of the British Raj. Programmers in India in contrast earn about 5800 dollars per year which is very low by international standards but high by Indian standards. Salaries for programmers are rising in India, but so is the productivity. By 2002 the figure had risen to 65000 dollars. Another factor helping India is that satellite communications have removed distance as an obstacle to doing business for foreign clients.  Because software is nothing more than a stream of zeros and ones, it can be transported at the speed of light and negotiable cost to any point in the world.  India's software industry is growing and government is supporting this industry.