India's Software Exports Reach $12.5 Billion

BANGALORE, India (AP) -- India's revenues from exports of software and back-office services grew by more than 30 percent during the fiscal year that ended in March, the country's software trade body said Thursday.

Those revenues stood at $12.5 billion in the latest fiscal year, compared with $9.6 billion in the previous year, Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, told The Associated Press.

The United States continued to be the main breadwinner for India's outsourcing industry, accounting for 70 percent of its revenues.

"This growth comes despite concern over the U.S. position on outsourcing," Karnik said by telephone from New Delhi.

Labor and political leaders in the United States have opposed the practice of a growing number of corporations to shift white-collar jobs to countries such as India, where wages are lower.

This practice--called offshore outsourcing--has led to job losses in some cases.