The US and Europe are heavyweight customers for Indian outsourcing. But with the global crisis impacting demand, the sector has done well to explore avenues in Southeast and West Asia, Africa and untapped European markets. Some IT majors now plan to shift a proportion of new outsourcing projects to China. Camping and hiring locally, it's felt, will pay dividends in China's $10 billion outsourcing market. Also, it's what some big US clients seem to want: risk perceptions about security and political instability in India make China appear a better base. Though a leader in the game, Indian IT must watch out. Chinese outsourcing is growing fast. Thanks to an English-speaking workforce offering high-grade service, our firms have an edge. But China has given tax exemption for outsourcing in 21 cities till 2013. With government actively promoting Chinese outsourcing vendors who're getting orders from the US and Europe, how long before the dragon steals past?
