It has been almost 35 years since India started exporting IT services to the outside world. Though it began on a small scale, the industry picked up drastically in the 1990s and eventually made India one of the largest exporter of software services in the world.
But what has the country truly achieved in all these decades? Unfortunately, it has mainly focused on exporting software labor...yes, skilled labor, but not any global products.
India has not invented a single app, laptop, website, or social media platform with global appeal.
India ranks second in the world in the number of software engineers, after China and ahead of the United States. Estimates suggest China has around 7 million software engineers, India about 5.8 to 6 million, and the US roughly 4.4 million. Despite this large talent pool, India has not produced major global software products such as operating systems, social media platforms, or cloud infrastructure.
One reason for this is the lack of a protected domestic market. Unlike China, which shields its tech companies from international competition, Indian innovators face direct competition from well-established global players. This makes it harder for local companies to experiment, grow and scale foundational technologies safely.
Another factor is India’s historical focus on IT services and outsourcing. Indian software companies have excelled in providing software development, maintenance and support for foreign clients rather than creating their own core platforms.
This service-oriented approach has prioritized short-term revenue over building homegrown ecosystems or global products.
Limited government backed research and development is also a key issue. Countries like China invest heavily in foundational tech such as AI and cloud platforms, often as a national priority.
In India, funding and strategic support for large-scale, high-risk innovation remain limited, which reduces opportunities for engineers to develop breakthrough technologies within the country.
Finally, India’s dependence on foreign platforms shapes its software landscape. Most Indian companies rely on Western operating systems, cloud services, and tools.
Using these ready-made solutions is more cost-effective and efficient than building new foundational products from scratch, but it also restricts the creation of a fully independent software ecosystem.
