Over 62% of all Indians can’t use computers because they don’t know English. And despite a 20-year headstart, the Indian-language software industry remains less than a drop in the Rs 62,000-cr Indian IT industry. Bogged down by lack of standardization, the industry has been overshadowed by the success of software exports. But the burgeoning e-governance vertical and growing compliance to Unicode standards could well turn the fortunes of this industry

"Did Gandhiji write his book in Gujarati or Hindi before it was translated into English," a ten-year-old asked his teacher. "Gandhiji wrote the book in English. It is not a translation," the teacher explained, prompting the child to exclaim, "You mean Gandhiji knew English? But didn’t he wore a dhoti?"

Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom “The immediate need is for more investment in text-to-speech applications. In the long run, the government’s investment in local language software for education as well as entertainment, will pay off”

The story of the Indian language software industry is no different from this conversation which transpired in an urban Indian school. The country’s brightest minds have earned global acclaim for cutting software code. The thinking process in almost all these minds, occurs in one of the Indian languages. The polished front-end portrayed by these IT professionals in the Queen’s language, is usually the result of an employer sponsored soft skills class. But ask these professionals to write software code for the language they think in, and they’d rather not. One, it’s not one of the ‘hottest’ things to do. Two, it doesn’t sell too well and most of all, it pays peanuts compared to the six-figure salaries offered by India’s software exporters.

And like Gandhiji’s dhoti, can it really compete with the perceived superiority of the Queen’s language? "The Indian language software industry is languishing because of the way we treat our languages—with no interest on the part of the government on the software industry itself," says Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT (Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology).

We’ve got it all—a headstart with Indian-language software companies like the government owned CDAC and Modular Infotech having been in existence since the early 80s. From a multilingual database for the dairy segment, enterprise applications for super marts to regional language CDs on religion and children’s stories, the multitude of software companies in the fray, have displayed ingenuity in their present day product offerings. And with the proliferation of e-governance initiatives focussed on "bridging the digital divide", the future too is ripe with potential.

But then, the industry is also grappling with critical issues like the historical lack of standardization, an apathetic government and rampant piracy. "Piracy in Indian language software is at 64%, no different from other packaged software and the problems are as severe," points out Sunil Mehta. For instance, Modular Systems and its marketing partner, Cirrus Electronic Systems have suffered tremendous loss to the tune of Rs. 30-40 lakhs per year. "We have taken the initiative to create an anti-piracy cell at Pune and 13 IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) units along with a task force of about 35-40 trained personnel in anti piracy operations. This anti piracy cell is headed by a retired colonel of the Indian Army and experienced in police duties as well," informs Modular Infotech director Meena Joshi.

Chicken or Egg? What Ails Local Language Software? Absence of standardization in software code, fonts and keyboards Proprietary fonts, can’t be viewed with different software Lack of attention by industry itself Dearth of large software players No push by the government Tedious process of migration from 8-bit to Unicode compliant software Universal preference for English-language SW Ensuring Unicode compliance is a progressive step no doubt. However, even companies who want to promote Unicode compliant software are sometimes forced to ship 8-bit versions in order to integrate the fresh product with the client’s legacy systems Companies continue to develop proprietary fonts in order to fend off piracy invasion The industry is far too small in comparison with the gigantic software exports and domestic English language packaged software segments Large players do not see potential in venturing into this space. The profit margins are far too low for smaller players to grow larger The government is making the right sounds in praise of Indian language software. But state governments are still confused about where to put the money-English or Indian language applications Migration to Unicode is essential to bring about standardization Using English language software has obvious advantages

Given these problems, it is no surprise that the Indian language software industry is estimated to be at just Rs 100 crore—a drop in the Rs 62,000-crore Indian IT industry. While Rs 100 crore was the size estimated by a MAIT-IIIT Bangalore study concluded in December 1999 on the potential for local language computing, this study also placed the potential size at Rs 500-600 crore. But as is amply evident, the market has remained severely under developed.

Among its members, Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service Companies) has about 30 software companies involved in local language computing. All of these companies are at least five years old, but significantly, none of them have revenues exceeding Rs 10 crore. Even Modular Infotech one of the more established players in the segment, has revenues worth just 1.7 crore for the first two quarters of this financial year. About 85% of the company’s revenue is from products and the rest from projects like language enabling of printers, Open Type fonts, and other customer specific projects.

None of the Indian software big guns have ventured into this terrain and given the obvious disparity in returns as against the software exports cash cow, none are likely to. Some of the local language software products ship at as low as Rs 800-1,000 per package. And some of the lesser known accounting packages at Rs 500! Needless to say, the profit margins for these players are wafer-thin. And given that the effort required in R&D to develop software— any software— is considerable, there is little hope of this changing.

Anto Peter, director, Softview Computers “Anything closely related to cinema surely attracts the Tamilian. It was no surprise that tamilcinema.com, the first ever Tamil e-zine, has had over 1 lakh visitors already”

So who are the primary consumers of Indian language software? The publishing industry, the electronic and print media, advertising agencies, the education segment and the industry’s biggest hope – the government. "The healthcare segment could use it in a big way to generate end-user reports, medical bills etc, especially in rural areas, but as of now, there are no takers," observes Nasscom vice president Sunil Mehta.

It is the demand for large volumes of information that has seen a strategic shift in regional-language computing. An industry that was geared to print notices and invitation cards, has moved beyond DTP and is now dabbling in database-driven applications.

"Nearly 80% of this software license software market is currently in the wordprocessor/fonts segment but the other application segments are growing fast now. The multiligual segment in the banking sector and accounting software will be one of the biggest players in the market in the future as small rural banks undergo computerization and automation," says Alok Gupta of Softmart Solutions.

Modular has developed software packages caled DughGanga and Dugdhalekha for the dairy segment especially in the rural and semi-urban areas and a Vidyarthi package for school administration.

If the idea of the neighborhood grocer in small towns processing orders online seems far-fetched even today, the use of multilingual software could change this. "The Smart-Bazaar package can operate from a beginner level (for a small grocery shop) up to a multi-branch bazaar with several terminals It has a complete front-end billing which is vertically integrated with a powerful back-end accounting system which allows a shop or bazaar to do its accounting as well as full inventory management with numerous MIS reports which are very useful for the day-to-day decision making in shops and bazaars, " explains Modular director Meena Joshi. Smart-Bazaar is fully bar code enabled and can also print low-cost barcode stickers using ordinary dot matrix printers (which are also used for printing multilingual bills and MIS reports). Besides this, it also supports higher-end bulk sticker printers. It also allows users to define sales promotional schemes like ‘buy one get one free’ or 10% discount on weekends.

Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT “Lack of standardization and visibility, and the fragmented nature of the industry have crimped the growth of the Indian language software space”

Apart from the domestic market, there is a trickle of demand for export too – from the non resident Indian community "A generation that tried its best to neutralize regional differences and merge completely with the populace of the country one had migrated to, Indians today, are displaying a marked interest in their roots. I have NRI’s writing in, asking for Indian language software products,"says Nasscom President Kiran Karnik, explaining that the demand is primarily for entertainment software applications and CDs meant to lure their children towards Indian languages.

Along the same lines is the demand for CDs on religion. For instance, Softview Computers has developed the multimedia Thirukkural CD. "In this CD, all the 1330 kural (sounds) has been given along with the meaning. All the kurals have been arranged Adhikaram wise (Chapter). So that viewer can see any kural in any Adhigaram by a single click on the mouse. Wherever the mouse just rolls over on the kural an interactive audio can be heard for each and every kural," says Anto Peter, director, Softview Computers.

"Though education has veered towards English, Indians prefer their own languages when it comes to entertainment – be it music CDs, movies and maybe games too. Unfortunately, most CDs currently available, are in English," says Karnik.

Though such products are not available in abundance, there are efforts being made in this direction. Softview has an animation CD comprising Tamil nursery rhymes. Another interesting offering is a ‘do it yourself’ CD developed by the Yoga Publishing House in Coimbatore and distributed by Softview. Entertainment could be another area of opportunity for Indian language software companies, not just for NRIs but a domestic market too. Similarly, educational CDs can be used by local language schools. However, in this case, the demand would be for the schools alone – "Home users who can afford a PC would prefer English language CDs," explains Sunil Mehta.

The power puff girls may be cackling away in Hindi all day on Cartoon Network, but urban Indian children prefer the superior animation quality that global products offer. The classic story of Gandhiji’s dhoti again. But even if the export and entertainment software opportunity is realized, it remains a pint-sized segment.

Compare this with the hourly billing rates of software exporters as well as the prices of the few English language software packages developed out of India –you have a micro-mini segment not really worth talking about. Not surprisingly, no one is talking about it - or is too keen to crunch the members this segment brings. A new breed of companies that does want to talk about it, is the multinationals in India who are rapidly adapting their offerings in order to ensure that they do not lose out on the market India offers.

As per Census Data of 2001, India’s literacy rate is 65%. Barely 4% of India is English literate—the market addressed by the IT industry currently. This effectively means that just over 62% of the Indian populace reads and writes at least one Indian language, but cannot use IT because it does not know English. The need for the proliferation of Indian language software has never been more evident—there are 620 million people waiting.

The fore-runner in exploring this untapped market through its localization (read Indianization) initiative is Microsoft, which has bundled Indian language applications with XP (Windows as well as Office). "In a population of 1 billion, each one knows at least one Indian language if not more. Nearly 70% of TV content is in Indian languages. Nokia’s initiative of SMS in Hindi has caught on rapidly. We want to make sure that Microsoft addresses the needs of these potential users," says Raveesh Gupta , Microsoft India’s program manager, Localization, declaring that whatever the market size of this segment, it is only the tip of the potential iceberg.

Having decided to focus on Indian language software, Microsoft has launched an initiative to clip the wings of the industry’s largest menace–the absence of standardization. Considering that all Mirosoft products are Unicode based, the software giant has launched an initiative to train developers in the process of migration from proprietary to Unicode based software. Microsoft is also working with close to 150 ISVs (independent service vendors) to develop multilingual CBTs, transliteration facilities from English to other languages. Microsoft has a host of e-governance initiatives as well.

Another MNC in the fray is Adobe, which is working with several government departments to provide Indian-language interface in PDF and Acrobat formats. "The Maharashtra government bought 28-30 Acrobat licenses for Rs 5-6 lakh nine months ago. These have been deployed at Mantralaya alone. This success may lead to the purchase of 5,000 more licenses," informs S Angiah, business development manager, Adobe India.

"Right since the beginning of the PC era, the Chinese have pushed for software in their language. The government of India made no such effort for Hindi. If the government would have declared support for Hindi as a legal requirement to sell computers to the Government, schools and universities, the industry would have been far bigger than it is today" points out Hanumanji, who has developed an editor in Hindi.

But if India was to take a cue from the Chinese and pass a diktat making it compulsory for every software company to produce a Hindi version of the software it develops, the issue could easily blow up into a political controversy. Even as the debate on national language continues, non-Hindi speaking states will refuse to take it lying down. May be making support for any one Indian language mandatory could be an option. But the bigger question is, do we need to clutch on to our roots at all? Do we need every software package developed to be available in an Indian language? Should our PC boot in our mother tongue?

The bridge across the English channel
This is a question that the state governments are grappling with. Summit Infotech for instance, tied up with Oracle to create Indian language databases compatible with Oracle 9 i. "The software worked out fine, but there were no takers. We approached several state governments and the Ministry of IT to initiate data processes using Indian languages, but we got nothing beyond lip service," says Summit Infotech managing director Rakesh Kapoor. Do states reach out to the local populace by presenting information in the language it speaks or do they encourage more people to learn English instead? The answer lies in a middle path—the use of local language interface for government-citizen interaction. At the same time, continue to conduct intra-departmental processes, accounting, administration etc in English if required.

Having squeezed the Indian metros dry and the replacement market still not catching up as it should, hardware vendors are making a beeline for B and C class cities. And as the white boxes move in these markets, so should software packages specific to the language of the region. At present they don’t. But when the owner of the biggest sweet shop chain in town realizes that the queues move much faster and the computer screen flashes the day’s collection per outlet-not in English but chaste Gujarati—yes, they will. Software works, but in our own language—it works better. For then, every single employee in the establishment feels empowered- not because that gadget in the corner became more enticing or that he developed IT skills overnight—but simply because he can read it!

As Summit Infotech MD Rajesh Kapoor puts it, "Our languages are important. They make the nation tick. But do we need the localization initiatives of an Adobe or Microsoft to tell us that?

Manjiri Kalghatgi in New Delhi

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