National Association of Software and Service Companies said on Wednesday that it expects the ITES-BPO to grow by a robust 54 per cent in 2003-04 to $3.6 billion.

However, as per Nasscom estimates, the ITES-BPO sector grew by 59.1 per cent in fiscal 2002-03.

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With the ITES-BPO segment emerging as a high growth sector, Nasscom 2004, the annual extravaganza for the information and communication technology industry, which will begin in Mumbai on February 3, will focus on the coming of age of this sector.

The Indian ITES-BPO industry continues its strong upward spiral on service like customer care, finance, human resource, administration, billing and payments.

Building on last year's success, this year Nasscom will bring together thought leaders, customers and analysts of the global ITES-BPO industry to converge and address on key issues like process transition, quality, contract management and security challenges, Kiran Karnik, president of the apex body told newspersons in Mumbai.

Revenues from customer care doubled during 2002-03 registering a growth of 102 per cent. Similar trend was witnessed in payment service, which grew by over 90 per cent during 2002-03. Other service lines like finance, HR and administration are also expected to grow significantly over the next few years. 

Karnik said a 20-member delegation from Pakistan, led by Jehan Ara, president of Pakistan Software Houses Association, would participate in the three-day show. This will be the first ever Pakistani delegation to a Nasscom meet.

Karnik said other issues to be discussed at the show include e-governance and strategies for collaboration and developing solution frameworks in India. He said nine states would also be participating in the show, which would be attended by leading think tanks from the EU and US.

He said Nasscom has set up a special team to take up with the government various requests put forward under World Trade Organisation and GATS (General Agreement for Trade and Services), which could have an impact on the IT industry.