The Indian IT industry is likely to experience mid-single digit revenue growth in the current fiscal year, similar to pre-pandemic levels. Global IT firms, including Accenture, Cognizant, and Capgemini, have issued lower revenue growth guidance for 2024, suggesting a continued subdued demand environment. Accenture's reduced guidance from 2-5% to 1-3% for the fiscal year 2024 reflects constraints in client IT spending due to uncertain macroeconomic factors. This trend is expected to affect Indian IT firms' growth prospects in the upcoming quarters.

Bengaluru's status as India's IT hub is threatened by infrastructure issues and a severe water crisis. Industry officials warn that without urgent action, cities like Hyderabad and Pune may overtake Bengaluru due to their better infrastructure and civic facilities. The water shortage, exacerbated by insufficient rainfall, has forced IT companies to rely on water tankers and implement work-from-home arrangements. Experts blame rapid urbanization, poor planning, and local government apathy for the crisis. Solutions like atmospheric water generation technology are being explored to mitigate the situation.

India's domestic consumption is a strong investment theme, with a significant rise in per capita income and the country poised to become the third largest economy. Venture capital funds like Fireside Ventures, with a Rs 3,000 crore fund, are investing in home-grown brands such as boAt and MamaEarth. Dipanjan Basu, Cofounder & Partner at Fireside Ventures, anticipates the emergence of large consumer brands in India. The fund focuses on pre-series A investments, typically investing Rs 10-Rs 15 crore initially and scaling up in future rounds. Fireside Ventures has a notable exit track record and is currently deploying capital from its third fund, planning to make around 25 investments. The fund has partially exited MamaEarth during its public listing and continues to hold a stake.

Indian IT firms are experiencing shorter contract renewals with lower volumes of work committed by clients, leading to concerns about revenue growth in 2024. The trend, observed during contract renewals in December-January, includes one-year extensions and deals with lower annual contract value but higher total contract value. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro have secured large deals but expect low single-digit revenue growth this year. Brokerage firms anticipate growth challenges for the first half of 2024, with a potential recovery depending on large deal momentum and discretionary spending in sectors like financial services and hi-tech.

TreadBinary, a technology and consulting company founded by Yuvraj Shidhaye and Darshil Shah, has experienced rapid growth since its inception. The company focuses on product development and consulting in the technology industry, providing solutions to industry-specific problems. TreadBinary has developed products like 'HAC' and 'digitally optimized supply chain planning- doSCP', and has a strong customer base in Europe and North America. With a current turnover of Rs 4 crore and an expected top line of Rs 12 crore for the next financial year, the company aims to increase the contribution of product revenue to its total revenue. TreadBinary remains bootstrapped, focusing on cashflows and internal operations scalability.

The BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) vertical is experiencing significant stress due to macroeconomic uncertainties, with no expected change until the next year. Despite being a major revenue contributor for IT firms, BFSI's growth remains low compared to other sectors. Cognizant reported a 4% year-on-year decline in BFSI revenue, while Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services also saw declines. High interest rates in the US and EU are impacting the mortgage segment within BFSI. Some IT firms are securing large deals in the BFSI segment due to cost takeout deals. Experts, including V Balakrishnan of Exfinity Ventures, indicate that interest rates are unlikely to decrease soon as inflation has not reached a comfortable level for central banks.

Cognizant and Tech Mahindra are experiencing a hiring uptick, indicating a potential turnaround amid a broader industry slowdown. Unlike their peers, these firms did not over-hire in the past two years, leading to a more balanced hiring approach now. Cognizant's headcount increased by 1,000 in the last quarter, and Tech Mahindra added 2,307 employees, both showing a decline in voluntary attrition. Leadership changes, with Ravi Kumar S joining Cognizant and Mohit Joshi set to become Tech Mahindra's CEO, have raised hopes for growth. Other IT companies, including TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, and Wipro, have reduced their workforce by about 38,950 employees in the first half of the fiscal year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted India as a focus market for the company, citing the country's growing middle class and successful retail stores. Despite a 1% sequential decline in revenue to $89.5 billion in Q4, Apple's iPhone and services generated substantial revenue. Apple's market share in India is expected to increase from 4.5% to 6% in 2023, with the company also expanding its manufacturing presence in India. iPhone exports from India are estimated to be around $5 billion-$5.5 billion in FY23, making up about half of the country's mobile phone exports.

Europe has become a growth area for Indian IT services as the US market shows signs of a slowdown. In the second quarter, European clients contributed to large deals, with the UK being a notable growth spot. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) saw a slight increase in North American revenue, but experienced better performance in Europe, particularly the UK. Infosys and HCL Tech also reported growth in Europe. Despite this, the European market may not fully offset the US slowdown. Peter BendorSamuel, CEO of Everest Group, anticipates a challenging end to the year and start to the next year for the Indian IT industry.

Fractional ownership in real estate is gaining popularity in India, with more investors considering it to diversify their portfolios. Prudhvi Reddy of Assetmonk sees this trend growing as disposable income rises in the country. Fractional ownership allows investors to partially own large commercial properties through pooled investments. The market size in India was $5.4 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $8.9 billion by 2025, according to Knight Frank. Upper middle-class professionals are increasingly interested in these investment opportunities, with entry investments starting from Rs 10 to 15 lakh. The growth of co-living, warehousing, student-living, and co-working segments has also contributed to the trend.

Spoclearn, an upskilling platform in India, offers over 50 courses and plans to double this number in the near future. The company, co-founded by Bharath Kumar J, has seen growth despite the challenges of the pandemic and aims to expand its corporate partnerships and individual learner certifications. Spoclearn is profitable, self-funded, and is considering setting up physical learning centers. The demand for upskilling remains high in India, with technology slowdown and low hiring not significantly impacting the industry.

Indian IT services companies are expected to see improved performance with a positive shift in enterprise sentiment and decision-making on technology spending. Large deals have been secured by India's top IT firms, including Infosys, TCS, and HCL Tech, with significant contracts from global enterprises like Liberty Global and Verizon Business. While the big firms show signs of a turnaround, the situation in the mid-tier IT services space remains uncertain.