NEW DELHI -- Expanding Information Technology (IT) relations with Iran need market assessment, says an Indian software consultancy services major on Wednesday. Phiroz Vandrevala, executive vice-president of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), in an exclusive interview with IRNA on Tuesday, said: "It is important for us to understand each other and to assess the state of the IT industry in Iran. How many professionals are there and how many companies are there in government and private sector. What is the number of engineering graduates, etc." Heading India's leading company which offers consultancy and system integration services, the executive vice-president said that "As far as the Indian IT industry is concerned, we are now working with at least 60-70 countries of the world in some form or the other; definitely the prospects of doing work in Iran must exist." In the case of Iran, Vandrevala further said: "Unfortunately, he who has not been to Tehran, though he may be a Parsi, is not aware of the whole economic situation in Iran. But we can work in the financial sector, banks, insurance and the telecom sector and the manufacturing sector which are the key sectors where the applications of the IT technology predominate and help in the economic development." He added: "The other area of interest in Iran which could possibly be looked into is the whole area of e-governance and government-citizen interface." TCS is India's top software exporter since 1968 with a growth rate of 48.5 percent in 2000-01 revenue at $689 million. The executive vice-president said that "In the whole application of government services there could be some scope for IT interface." He added: "Today, the Indian IT industry in reigning and looking for new markets; the timing is right for companies to be attracted to Iran in case there are prospects." "The other thing we have to consider is what is the state of the IT industry within Iran itself. Because in a country like Iran, I do not think Indian companies can go with hundreds of professionals and to do all this work, you need to have some local industry and local people in Iran who can then work jointly with the teams with India to deliver solutions," the TCS executive went on to say. Outlining the prospects for a longer relationship with Iran, he said: "Prospects certainly exist but the issue that should be taken into account is that some 65 percent of Indian companies' business is with the U.S. and there may be some reluctance on the part of some companies who have to be careful with what they do in Iran because of the whole technology embargo." "Overall, we need to see a market in Iran; some of the high level visits help in this process and, in the final analysis, private industry needs to be interested in the market," he said.

Vandrevala thinks that a business visit to Iran would be useful "If there is some association in Iran which can provide fully and get in touch with Indian counterparts like the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM)." Some of the obligations of the government-to-government MOU could be assigned to an organization like the NASSCOM which is a chamber working in the IT industry, he added. Taking a delegation-level visit is not useful unless one has the information about Iran's capacities and capabilities, Vandrevala said, adding that "In case there is a lot of talent and expertise that is available in Iran, then obviously the ability for Iran to go and work in PGCC countries and Central Asia is there." Outlining the big Iranian market, he said: "Of course there is an opportunity we would interact. Some of the Indian companies would be very excited to enter." Voicing optimism on it interaction, he said that the "Right environment can create a right IT environment to begin with. Today Iran itself is about to realize that investment in technology is necessary for it to be competitive and there is a market also for Iranian companies if they develop the skills to service the domestic market requirement."