The Indian software industry body, NASSCOM, hailed Barack Obama's historic win in the US elections, hoping that the President-elect would find new ways to partner and boost economies of the two nations in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

Since over 60 per cent of the IT sector's revenue comes from the US, some companies are somewhat worried due to Obama's anti-outsourcing talk during his election campaign. The wary companies are hedging their bets by quietly opening delivery centers in the US, and hiring US nationals even at the cost of margins, so that, if need be, they will have a ready answer to the outsourcing backlash.

However, since almost 25 billion dollars are at stake in outsourcing, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy seems fairly certain that outsourcing is too deep-rooted to be done away with by the new US President. Terming Obama's win as a victory of "compassionate capitalism" over laissez-faire capitalism, Murthy said: "Once he is in office, he will realise that this is an inter-connected world and countries have to work together."

Some other IT industry stalwarts say that India still has its cost arbitrage advantage in place and a massive talent pool. Som Mittal, Chairman, NASSCOM, opines: "America doesn't have the technological prowess and thus they have to depend on us for their services. We will not be affected."

In fact, IT companies would look with hope towards Obama administration to spur innovation, foster economic growth and develop skilled workforce to create jobs in both countries for mutual benefit.