National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)
Definition
NASSCOM: India’s IT-BPM Trade Association Explained
NASSCOM, the National Association of Software and Services Companies, is the non-profit trade body for India’s IT and business process management sector. Founded in 1988 in New Delhi, it sets policy, publishes research, and lobbies government for 3,000+ member firms — making it the single most influential voice in Indian tech.
NASSCOM is a not-for-profit industry association registered under the Indian Companies Act. Its members include domestic software exporters, IT services firms, business process outsourcing (BPO) providers, global capability centres, start-ups, and the Indian arms of multinational tech companies. Membership covers roughly 90% of India’s IT-BPM revenue, which is why the body is treated as the de facto representative of the sector by both Indian ministries and overseas buyers.
The association does three jobs at once. It is a research house — publishing the closely watched annual Strategic Review of the Indian IT-BPM sector. It is a lobby group, working with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on tax, data, and skills policy. And it is a convenor, running events such as the NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum that anchor the Indian tech calendar.
For overseas buyers of outsourced services, NASSCOM’s role is practical. According to NASSCOM’s own corporate profile, the body certifies practices, benchmarks salaries and attrition, and provides the headline numbers that buyers cite when sizing the India delivery option.
How it works
NASSCOM operates through a small executive team in Noida and a network of regional councils across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata. Policy work is run through dedicated councils on AI, cybersecurity, data, GCCs (global capability centres), engineering R&D, and BPM. Each council drafts position papers, runs working groups with member CIOs, and feeds recommendations into government consultations.
Member firms pay annual dues scaled to revenue. In return they receive sector data, access to buyer delegations, and a seat at policy tables. The association’s flagship publication, the Strategic Review, is the source most journalists and analysts cite for sector size. NASSCOM’s FY2024 review reported the Indian IT-BPM industry at roughly USD 254 billion in revenue, with exports near USD 200 billion and a workforce of about 5.4 million.
NASSCOM at a glance
| Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1988 |
| Member firms | 3,000+ |
| Share of India IT-BPM revenue represented | ~90% |
| India IT-BPM revenue (FY2024, per NASSCOM Strategic Review) | ~USD 254B |
| IT-BPM workforce (FY2024) | ~5.4M |
| Headquarters | Noida, Uttar Pradesh |
NASSCOM also runs delivery arms with their own brands. FutureSkills Prime, a joint initiative with MeitY, is the national upskilling platform for digital skills. The NASSCOM Foundation handles the sector’s CSR and digital-inclusion work, and NASSCOM Insights publishes the data dashboards member firms use for benchmarking.
Examples
NASSCOM’s footprint shows up wherever India’s tech sector touches global business. A few concrete cases:
* The 10,000 Startups programme, launched in 2013, has incubated thousands of Indian start-ups including Razorpay, Unacademy, and Postman before they reached unicorn status.
* FutureSkills Prime, co-funded with the Ministry of Electronics and IT and run since 2018, trains workers from member firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech in AI, cloud, and cybersecurity.
* GCC advocacy — NASSCOM’s 2024 GCC Annual Report tracked more than 1,700 global capability centres in India employing roughly 1.9 million people, a figure now cited across Tier-1 consultancies pitching India sites to multinational clients.
* Policy wins include lobbying for the 2019 amendment to the Other Service Provider rules, which permitted work-from-home for BPO staff, a change that proved critical during the pandemic.
* The annual NTLF (NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum), held in Mumbai each February since 1991, draws CEOs from Indian and global tech firms and is widely regarded as Asia’s biggest tech-industry gathering.
For buyers shortlisting India delivery, NASSCOM’s published research and member directory function as a free vendor-vetting layer. A vendor without a NASSCOM presence is not necessarily weaker, but the association’s membership filter does most of the basic due diligence on scale, certifications, and compliance posture before a buyer ever sends an RFP.
Related terms
- Business process outsourcing (BPO): the broader service category NASSCOM’s BPM membership covers.
- Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO): the higher-value analytics and research work many Indian members run.
- Information technology outsourcing (ITO): the IT services half of NASSCOM’s IT-BPM remit.
- Offshoring: the cross-border delivery model that built India’s tech sector.
- Shared services and outsourcing: the captive-centre model NASSCOM tracks under its GCC council.
- Foreign direct investment (FDI): the capital flow GCCs and tech multinationals bring to India.
- Digital transformation: the demand driver behind NASSCOM’s AI and cloud upskilling push.
FAQ
When was NASSCOM founded and by whom?
NASSCOM was founded in 1988 by a group of Indian software firms led by Dewang Mehta and Saurabh Srivastava, with the goal of building a unified voice for India’s nascent IT industry. It was set up as a not-for-profit under the Indian Companies Act.
Who can become a NASSCOM member?
Any company with a meaningful India presence in IT services, software products, BPM, engineering R&D, internet, or related digital businesses can apply. That includes domestic firms, start-ups, and Indian subsidiaries of multinationals — membership dues are tiered by revenue.
How is NASSCOM different from STPI or MeitY?
NASSCOM is a private-sector trade body, not a government agency. The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) are government entities; NASSCOM partners with both but represents member firms’ interests, not the state’s.
What is the NASSCOM Strategic Review?
It is the annual flagship report on India’s IT-BPM sector, published each February. The Strategic Review 2024 is the most-cited source for India tech sector size, employment, and export figures, used by global analyst houses and the financial press alike.
Does NASSCOM regulate the outsourcing industry?
No. NASSCOM is a self-regulating association — it sets voluntary codes on data security, ethics, and hiring practices, but binding regulation comes from MeitY, the Reserve Bank of India, and sector-specific regulators.
For a fuller picture of how India sits inside the global outsourcing map, browse the rest of the Outsource Accelerator glossary.
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