India-Canada row: Domestic IT companies adopt wait & watch approach
New Delhi: As the diplomatic ties between India and Canada further deteriorated on Thursday, domestic IT firms, especially those which have business and offices in Canada, remained in a state of caution, adopting a “wait and watch" approach.
While the IT industry's apex body Nasscom has maintained there is “no immediate cause of concern,” IT companies, including startups, are treading with caution.
With India suspending visa services for Canadians "till further notice", their concerns have now become real.
Industry experts also expressed concerns that the current stalemate can delay new business deals and the movement of professionals between two nations. They stressed that a "favourable political climate" is essential for business growth.
Indian IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have invested heavily in Canada and have a significant presence there.
Infosys has centres in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver and in July, Infosys set up a new subsidiary in Canada under its US arm Infosys Public Services.
Headquartered in Ottawa, Infosys Public Services Canada will span over 10,000 square feet. The expansion followed a series of Infosys' investments in Canada.
“The IPS Canada announcement is the latest development in a series of investments made by Infosys, which has expanded the employee count to over 7,000, with a commitment to increase to 8,000 employees by 2024," the company had said in a statement.
In January this year, leading technology services and consulting company Wipro Limited announced the opening of its newest Wipro-AWS Launch Pad Center in Toronto, which will enable customers in Canada to accelerate their move to the cloud and build industry leading solutions leveraging Wipro and AWS expertise.
TCS teams across the US and Canada “consist of over 53,000 diverse, agile, and highly trained innovators who help nearly half of the Fortune 500 turn their goals into reality,” according to the company's website.