India, the world's largest democracy and home to nearly one billion people, is quietly but quickly emerging as a leader in the field of software engineering and web-based service.

There is a country with an exceptional software story. It is a story about a software industry that's grown from $50 million in 1991 to $5.7 billion in 1999 and has expanded at a blazing 50 percent annual growth rate. It is a place where the market capitalization of companies has increased from $4 billion to $54 billion in 18 months.. that offers state-of-the-art data com infrastructure. It is a place where 500 portal sites are added every month.. that offers cost and quality advantages and where companies are flocking to outsource their software needs to gain competitive advantage.

No other software industry across the globe has notched up such amazing performance figures. Even President Bill Clinton on his recent trip to India paid rich tribute to the burgeoning base of Indian software expertise.

Indian software vendors are also becoming the darlings of US stock exchanges, like NASDAQ and NYSE, that are hotly competing with each other to list software and dot com companies.

What then is the secret of India's success in the software and new wave dot com sectors?

One of India's best known experts on the Indian infotech industry, DEWANG MEHTA, discusses the rising power of Indian software and the appearance of new software stars on the global horizon.

The Indian software tigers are on the prowl, and the world is clearly their stage. The next time you pick up a pair of Levi's jeans, or Reebok shoes, or travel in an airline that takes off and lands on time, spare a thought to the processes that have gone behind these seemingly innocuous tasks. Enabling these processes to take place with clockwork precision and efficiency are the "back end" engines -- the high quality software solutions that power manufacturing, production or services. Even as you slip on apparel, or as you head skyward on silver wings, spare a thought for the Indian programming talent that has created this expertise.

No wonder then that global corporate giants are looking towards India to answer their software call. Among global leaders, India's name has become synonymous with software. Gone are the days when India was considered an ancient nation with antiquated offerings. India has clearly moved from being a land of snake charmers to mouse users. Today, the country is rubbing shoulders with the world's most advanced countries, in areas as sophisticated and state-of-the-art as software. India's software and e-commerce prowess in fact, is well known among the Western elite and earning the country extremely valuable foreign exchange.

In fact software has become the driver for even the bilateral relations between New Delhi and Washington. In fact, President Bill Clinton, a self-confessed admirer of the Indian software sector, talks unceasingly about the country's software skills and growing power in the global markets. During his visit to India earlier this year, software proved to be a common thread during crucial talks between the two countries.

A World Bank funded study has confirmed that foreign vendors rated India as their number one choice for software outsourcing. During 1999 alone, 230 of Businessweek Global 1000 companies outsourced their software development requirements to India. The list of these companies is as long as it is illustrious, including prestigious names such as General Motors, British Airways, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Ford, Sony, Nokia, Siemens, United Airways, Pepsi, Boeing and Citibank, among others.