Budget 2023 | TCS chief Rajesh Gopinathan sees services sector happy, centred on government agenda

TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan

The Indian services sector is happy where it stands as it has been centered in the government's agenda, TCS chief executive Rajesh Gopinathan says days before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to table the Union Budget for 2023-24.

“The government has made sure that the services sector, which earlier used to be lost, is now fair and centered in the government's agenda. We are quite happy as an industry where we are,” Gopinathan told Moneycontrol.

In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol after the company’s third-quarter earnings, Gopinathan was asked about his Budget wish list from the government. “Why waste Christmas writing a letter, when Santa is ready to do something? If you were good, you will get your gift,” he said.

Gopinathan said that earlier a stable currency regime and tax regime have been part of the company’s Budget wish list, which the central bank has been focusing on lately. The TCS chief added the government has also been 'quite supportive' of the sector, through the pandemic, and in various FTA (Free trade agreement) negotiations.

Moneycontrol earlier reported ahead of the Union Budget 2023, industry body National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has made three key recommendations to aid the Information Technology and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) industries in ease of doing business. They pertain to the per diem allowance threshold, safe harbor rules, and advance pricing agreements.

TCS earnings, reported on January 9, for the third quarter ended December were broadly in-line, with constant currency revenue growth of 2.2 percent quarter on-quarter and EBIT margins of 24.5 percent. However, deal wins were weak at $7.8 billion versus $8.1 billion in the previous quarter and the headcount fell sequentially by over 2,000. While the management was confident about demand in North America and the UK, Europe outlook remained uncertain.

Also Read: Level of tolerance between a disaster quarter and a great quarter is 50 basis points: TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan