Paricharcha - A dialogue with the stalwarts
December 8, 2007

Five opinion leaders from leading Consulting and IT Services majors, a hundred budding young minds, one common platform and valuable ideas abound: that's 'Paricharcha' - A seamless interaction between participants of SPJIMR and stalwarts from the industry. This year the topic under discussion was 'The impact of appreciation of the Rupee on the Indian IT Industry and the strategy to adopt.' The event was well attended by leaders in their respective domains including Mr. Venkita Subramanian, CFO of CitiGroup Global Services, Mr. Arvind Bajaj, Managing Director of Atos Origin, Mr. Rostow Ravanan, CFO of Mind tree Consulting and Dr Donald Hatfield, Strategic Management expert, Pamplin College of Business, USA along with participants from SPJIMR.


‘Paricharcha', is a novel initiative by the participants of PGDSM-MIT, a unique dual degree program offered jointly by SPJIMR and Virginia Tech, USA. 'Paricharcha' is a panel discussion that endeavours to connect 'intellect' and bridge the gap between the academia and the corporate world.

The focus of the discussion was on how India Inc. in general and Indian IT companies in particular need to exhibit resilience and move north in the value chain rather than compete on cost arbitrage alone. “It's not the rupee that has appreciated; it's the dollar which has depreciated”, said Mr. Venkita Subramanian, CFO, Citigroup Global Services. To this, Mr. Rostow Ravanan, CFO, MindTree Consulting, added “In fact, it's not the appreciation in rupee that makes so much of a difference as the volatility in its value.”

Mr. Venkita proposed diversification into a basket of currencies to maintain a constant flow of revenue. Mr. Arvind Bajaj, Managing Director of Atos Origin chipped in by saying, “Indian IT companies could look at setting up shops in other parts of theWorld such as Mexico and Eastern Europe to counter the rupee appreciation scenario.” Prof. Donald Hatfield suggested that countries should concentrate on innovation and entrepreneurship in the long term.

Questions from the student body ranged from pegging of currencies, export lobbies and the RBI intervention to the euphoria over the famous BRIC report. The event gave managers-in-the-making a chance to tête-à-tête with the panellists and helped in developing a holistic view on the matter under discussion.