Indian IT professionals flock to Germany

According to the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, from the latest details received from the Nuremberg-based Federal Labour office, of the 7841 IT specialists to whom it issued green cards 1,624 were Indians.

Despite the slowdown in IT market, Indian professionals bagged the largest chunk of "green cards" under the scheme launched in August last year to tide over the shortage of IT professionals in the country, a statement issued by the chamber said.

Of the Indian green card holders, 134 were women, it said.

India's exports of software and services to Germany were estimated at US$172 million during 1999-2000 compared to US$123 million in the previous year, registering a 44 percent growth.

Besides Germany, the 15-member European Union has also emerged as a major destination for India's software exports.

Considering the expanding size of the total IT and software market of EU, India's software export to EU are expected to cross US$1 billion in the coming years, it said.