Rishad Premji Optimistic About Trump’s Pro-Business Policies, Cautions on Inflation
Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji is optimistic about the pro-business policies of the incoming Trump administration, believing they will create favorable conditions for India's $250-billion IT sector.
"I certainly think that the current outcome is going to be more pro-business and pro-growth," he said at the 27th edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit.
"If you look at the last 25-30 years, the tech services model has survived and thrived. It has survived and thrived regardless of the political party in power or the administration that was formed. There is some amount of political rhetoric that is imposed in any election. But I think the model is quite strong and sustainable irrespective of what the government is in power. The conversation we're having on fewer taxes and less regulation, I think, will be incredibly powerful. So, I'm quite hopeful, but we've also got to be watchful about the inflationary pressure", Premji said.
Industry experts believe that a potential second term for Trump could result in contrasting immigration policies. While he may enforce stricter measures on unauthorized border crossings, he is also expected to impose tighter controls on employment-based visas. Indian IT companies, the largest users of H-1B and other non-immigrant visas that enable U.S. firms to hire foreign workers temporarily, have increasingly hired more local talent in recent years, significantly reducing their reliance on visas.
Premji has emphasized that although it is essential to consider safeguards against geopolitical risks. However, he said that IT services continue to survive and thrive despite the geopolitical uncertainty.
"The world is deeply interconnected, and I think being able to undo that is not going to be easier. So how do we find ways to work in a manner where we derisk by creating more optionality? So, you can't be one country dependent or one supply chain dependent, but you create more opportunities. And you see India being a huge beneficiary of some of that, especially on the manufacturing side", Premji said.
Premji praised the role of digital public infrastructure in democratizing access to technology and fostering a level playing field. He also highlighted the potential of using data in education and healthcare to drive ecosystem growth.
"I think this is a huge opportunity. Like we've done with the whole digital public infrastructure space, we created the infrastructure and then unleashed the potential of that into the ecosystem. If we can do similar things with the kinds of datasets we have in areas like education and healthcare, and then allow the ecosystem to leverage that and build the relevant use cases on top, it can be tremendously powerful".