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Which other country in the world today has a leader of the coalition, who is a Catholic; a President who is a Muslim; a Prime Minister from a minority communitya Sikh; and the leader of the Opposition who is a Hindu? I mean, which other country can boast of that diversity in leadership and that diversity in a democracy? So its not something, which is superficial that we just thump our chest about; its very fundamental to the economics of the country and the society of the country," Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, said in a radio interview abroad.

Diversity is something that Indians have learnt to celebrate. Even in its short, three-decade odd history, the Indian IT industry has become as diverse as anything else in the country. The top groups here provide us a taste of that diversity and thereby reiterate what Premji said "very fundamental to the economics of the country"that the systems and environment here are not particularly favorable to any one sectionbe it in class, creed, or type of business.

Background
Start any way. Take the background of these groups. You have one at the top that comes from what you call an old economy background, with a century-old history behind it; you have another that has evolved from a small edible oil business; two first generation companies whose founders are still at the helm; and one that is an import from outside. Together, they say much about Indiayou dont have to discard the old to embrace the new; you can transform completely if you want to and still grow big; entrepreneurship thrives equally here as it does in the West; and we, as a nation, are truly pluralisticxenophobia is not for us; if you respect us, we respect you.

Take it another way. One of them is headquartered in Mumbai; one in Delhi; two in Bangalore; and one split between Delhi and Bangalore. It is not trivial information. It says much about Indias economic geography. Unlike many developing countries, Indias economic activities are not concentrated in any one area.

The Groups
In India, a business group is often a euphemism for a family-run business. The fact that none of these top five groups is family-run says much about the IT industrys distinctness from traditional Indian business.

On top of it is the Tata Grouparguably the most famous name in Indian business that started with making steel and is today one of the worlds top five in that business. Contrast this to the top IT companies in the USthey all started in technology and have stayed with that. Two significant changes happened last year. One was the completion of the CMC merger that saw TCS domestic business pie getting bigger; and the other, the emergence of Tata Technologies, which acquired a US-based engineering firm INCAT to become a significant force within the IT exports community.

The flagship firm, TCS, is Indias first serious claimant to the position of a global technology MNC. Apart from its size, TCS seriousness about its global ambition is shown from the fact that it is equally serious about emerging markets, unlike most other IT exporters in India, who do not look beyond North America, Europe, and a couple of showpiece Apac markets like Singapore and Australia. In fact, two of TCS biggest deals last year came from Equador and China. However, TCS so far is listed only in India.

The advice of chairman Ratan Tata to all IT companies within the group to combine under one umbrellaTCS, you guessed ithas created a lot of speculations in the market on if, when, and how it will happen.

Wipro, at one time known in India for its soaps and oil, has evolved from being a consumer care company to become one of the largest IT services firms in the world. Still organized under one single company, Wipro Ltd, it has three distinct divisionsglobal IT services, Apac IT products and services, and consumer care and lighting; all these businesses are growing. Wipro, which continued its string of pearls acquisition in the technology business, Wipro Infotech (the India/Apac) arm bought competitor, 3D Networks. Since then, its consumer care and lighting division has also done a big acquisition in Singapore, ending all speculations on whether Wipro was planning to exit this smaller business. Wipro is one of the first companies in Indian IT to successfully measure return on innovation initiatives. The other significant news of the year was the joining of chairman Azim Premjis son Rishad in the group.

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