It’s a wrap: News this week (Oct 7—Oct 13)

here have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From Indian space economy growth to IT services quarterly results declaration, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

Top IT companies declare quarterly results

This week, the top three IT services companies in India — Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and HCL Technologies announced their financial results for Q2FY24. It was kicked off by TCS, which recorded a revenue of ₹59,692 crore, up 8% year-on-year (YoY) basis, and an operating profit of ₹11,342. The company also announced a share buyback of ₹ 17,000 crore at a price of ₹4,150 per share. This is the fifth buyback in six years announced by the company.

Bengaluru-based Infosys announced ₹38,994 crore in revenue and an operating profit of ₹6,212 crore. Even as the company recorded the highest large deals value at $7.7 billion in Q2 spread across all verticals and geographies, the company further trimmed its revenue margin to 1%-2.5%. Additionally, Infosys also announced five-year extension of its joint venture collaboration with Singapore-based Temasek.

HCL Technologies was the last company this week to declare its quarterly results. It announced a net profit of ₹3,833 crore and consolidated revenue of ₹26,672 crore. 

All the three IT services company reported a decrease in the workforce headcount of 6,333 (TCS), 7,350 (Infosys), and 2,299 (HCL Tech).

CtrlS Datacenters’ $2 billion investment

Hyderabad-headquartered CtrlS Datacenters, on Thursday, announced its new investment plan of $2 billion (about ₹16,600 crore) over the next six years.  
As part of its investment plan, the company said that it plans to double headcount by 2029 and is expected to hire over 1,000 people in the next six years, with an emphasis on “constantly hiring and skilling”.  CtrlS also said, the company also announced its plan to add 350 MW of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-ready hyperscale data centers, as the company sees the demand for AI and cloud-ready datacenters is on the rise. This announcement is also part of its new investment plan. 

SAP’s new Pune office

SAP Labs India announced the opening of its second Pune office today. With the expansion, SAP Labs India will elevate its position as a strong employment provider in the Pune technology landscape. The new office will accommodate 300 professionals spanning over 30,000 square feet.
 
Apart from SAP, Norway-based technology company Cyviz inaugurated an Experience Centre in Gurugram, India. This centre serves as a hub to showcase their technological innovations. The inauguration ceremony took place on October 11, representing a significant step for Cyviz in extending support to businesses in India. 

India to produce AI chips

On October 13, MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that India will support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) chips through a private-public partnership (PPP) model, based on the recommendations of Center-appointed committee. The government also showcased a report on India’s AI program which is expected to be an enabler for the country’s goal of achieving $1 trillion digital economy by 2026. Chandrasekhar also said that the draft strategy on robotics (announced first in September) will also be part of the AI program.

Indian space economy to be worth $44bn by 2033

The Indian space economy is expected to be valued at $44 billion by 2033 with a 8% of the global share, as per the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). Currently, the value of India’s space economy is $8 billion and it is 2% of the global value.

A nodal agency under the department of Space, iN-SPACe released the decadal vision and strategy on October 10, prepared in collaboration with Isro and other stakeholders. The strategy aims to develop India as a dominant space power create space applications, socio-economic benefits, and strengthen space capabilities.