Plans for the healthcare vertical

It is an interesting vertical. It has four elements - Equipment providers, Healthcare providers (Hospitals, Doctors, Nurses), Payers (Insurers who underwrite the risk) and the benefit management companies. We have started working with one company each in three of these four segments and we are also looking for a customer in the fourth segment as well. We believe that thanks to the Bush plan and also the continuing focus by Obama, healthcare will undertake the dramatic transformation in technology over the next many years.

Clearly, the space requires significant amount of domain expertise. So hiring the right healthcare experts is a big investment area. The other is the investment in HIPAA compliance and understanding the compliance and regulations related to this and how to work under those constraints.

Our iTOPS model fits in perfectly in the space between the provider and the payer, which is where apparently there is significant amount of inefficiency in the market. It is here that the administrative cost between the payer and provider is very high.

Expectation from the Budget

The biggest thing we can get from the Budget probably has very little cost impact on the Government. What I am looking for is simplification, rationalisation, accountability and clarification. Is it a fringe benefit to an employee if you give a gift, or travel. I travel 20 days a month and I am told that it is a fringe benefit. I should actually be given a hardship allowance for travel.

The definition of fringe benefit needs to be clarified. Also, there are multiple taxes applied at different points of time, sometimes double taxation. Refund takes a long time. You must make the structure a lot simpler and rationalise it.

STPI extension is important because in a sense we are paying taxes in different ways. We have taken on public infrastructure cost, we run our own power generation plant, our own UPS facility and transport services. In effect, this is like a tax.

Elaborating on the Obama mindset

Obama as a campaigner talking about creating jobs in the US and not sending work offshore to Bangalore, you would normally take it in one ear and out the other. When Obama as a President says that he would rather have jobs in Buffalo than in Bangalore, people start to listen and start thinking about what they should do differently. And Obama as the owner through TARP money is a completely different bowl of fish. When he says, as an owner, that companies cannot increase offshoring, then there is no choice. The companies will move from the third level to the second once they return the TARP money and will make some minor adjustments but broadly they will keep the programmes running in the best interests of Corporations and shareholders.

iGate's itake on the domestic market

We took a decision about six months ago that we will start focusing on the domestic market. We have appointed a head of Indian market. We expect the realisations to grow and the projects to be of fairly good sizes.

"IT will continue to be under pressure, from an overall dollars budgeted this year."