Tata Consultancy Services has maintained its position as the largest software exporter from India selling software worth Rs 5503 crore (Rs 55.03 billion) in the international market in 2003-04, according to the latest NASSCOM rankings.

Following TCS on the list of top 20 software and services exporters (excluding ITeS-BPO services) are other giants like Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and Satyam Computer Services.

Infosys' revenue from the international markets was Rs 4709 crore (Rs 47.09 billion) last fiscal while Wipro's stood at Rs 3920 crore (Rs 39.2 billion). Satyam's export revenues stood at Rs 2472 crore (Rs 24.72 billion).

The combined revenue of the top 20 software and service exporters in IT services, products and technology for 2003-04 increased by 28 per cent year-on-year in 2003-04 in rupee terms to Rs 26,464 crore (Rs 264.64 billion) from Rs 20,668 crore (Rs 206.68 billion) in 2002-03, Nasscom said.

The top 20 software and service companies continue to account for about 65 per cent of the total IT software and service exports, said Nasscom chairman Jerry Rao in a statement.

Small and medium enterprises have also performed well during 2003-04. "Now two Indian companies are in the billion-dollar export league and we expect a few more to join them in the near future," added Nasscom president Kiran Karnik.

HCL Technologies was ranked fifth with export revenues of Rs 1895 crore (Rs 18.95 billion) followed by Patni Computer Systems {Rs 1223 crore (Rs 12.23 billion)}, iFlex Solutions {Rs 773 crore (Rs 7.73 billion)}, Mahindra British Telecom {Rs 727 crore (Rs 7.27 billion)}, Polaris Software {Rs 579 crore (Rs 5.79 billion)} and Digital Globalsoft {Rs 541 crore (Rs 5.41 billion)}.

The top 20 table did not include US listed companies like Cognizant, which have significant operations in India.

Nasscom said despite challenges such as the volatility of the rupee, Indian IT companies witnessed significant growth in their revenues. This was possible because Indian companies are increasingly moving beyond traditional service lines and are being able to draw more strategic business as well as bag larger contracts from their customers and tap new geographies.

Indian IT companies also diversified into new areas such as telecom, retail, utilities and healthcare. Some players also moved into IT consulting, packaged software implementation and systems integration.