China cannot overtake India in information technology as long as Indian companies maintain the headstart they enjoy in the sector, Azim Premji, chief of IT major Wipro said.

"China lags behind India three to four years in IT and China can never overtake India in the sector so long as it keeps that edge," Premji told a meeting of the Indian business community in Dubai.

Dwelling upon the core strengths of the Indian IT industry, Premji said the sector which employs 0.8 million people in the country now has the potential to create indirect job opportunities for an additional two million people by 2008.

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The Indian IT industry turnover was $16.5 billion in 2002-03 constituting 3.2 per cent of the Indian GDP now, but it has the potential to account for seven per cent of the GDP by 2008, he said.

Exports of IT Services, which currently account for eight per cent of foreign exchange inflows, will account for more than 30 per cent in 2008.

This will probably be the only industry where India will be on par with, or indeed ahead of most developed markets, he said.

Premji, rated as the richest Indian last year, was described as the quintessence of the great Indian dream by Indian Consul General Yash Sinha, who said the country's IT industry is set for giant leaps on the strength of its human talent.

He made light of the opposition to business process outsourcing in the United States, saying the move will not have much impact on his company since it does little business with the American government.

However, he said globalisation is a two-way street and the US cannot prevent outsourcing from countries like India when it seeks to close its domestic markets for products from outside.

Premji said US manufacturing sector has seen many changes in the past 20 years with bulk of the manufacturing activity moving to countries like China. The same activity is seen in the hi-tech industry now.

Wipro, which has an office in the Dubai Internet City, is currently targeting to reach $50 million in business from the region in two years.

Premji said Wipro will invest heavily in its Middle East business. He said the company started from a small base in the region, but won big contracts from all over the Gulf in the last two years.

The Indian IT major has opened offices in Dubai Internet City as well Saudi Arabia (Al Khobar) and has agents in all Gulf countries.

The company saw over 300 per cent growth in the Middle East, since it set up office there, he said.