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Soota set to take over as CII chief

Shweta Rajpal Kohli & Bipin Chandran

Information technology has moved closer to occupying centrestage in the Indian industry with a representative of the sector set to take over the reins of an apex industry association.

On April 27, Ashok Soota, co-founder, MindTree Consulting, will take over as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry from Sanjiv Goenka, vice-president, RPG Enterprises.

This is the first time that an infotech honcho is becoming the head of a business chamber. Neither of the other two apex chambers - the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Assocham - has had a head from the infotech sector. At CII, the past presidents have been from various old economy sectors including automobiles, engineering, steel, infrastructure and capital goods.

"My election as president of CII is a clear recognition of the significance of the infotech industry. It shows that IT has become very important for our country," Ashok Soota said.

"Since infotech is a global industry, I hope my leadership will help bring about a larger international focus and external exposure for the Indian industry," he added.

But old economy members of CII need not fear. Talking about his agenda as CII president, Soota said: "Though infotech will be the main area of focus, it will not be the only one. My agenda will be not just to propagate the IT industry, but to represent all industries. I hope all captains of industry will welcome my leadership as IT is not an isolated sector - it impacts each and every industry."

The infotech industry is not complaining, though. Vinnie Mehta, director, Mait, says: "A person from the IT sector at the helm of the country's largest industry association will give it a greater focus on the needs of the IT sector. We at Mait expect to work with CII and Soota on a larger scale now. His assuming the office of the president CII will give the IT sector greater visibility in the schemes of CII."

"It will be of great encouragement to the software sector as Soota will be in a position to help the sector by giving guidance on a macro level," Arun Kumar, president and managing director, Hughes Software Systems, said.

"With him at the helm of affairs, CII will be able to deal better with the government and other agencies on issues related to the software sector," Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said.

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