Engineering services companies want the government to set up parks or 'test laboratories' on the lines of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). The idea is to promote the exports of engineering components and services akin to software exports.

The need to go global and establish' engineered in India' as a brand was flagged at a Nasscom seminar held here. Engineering services outsourcing will be the next big wave after IT and BPO outsourcing according to industry experts. They estimate that a branding exercise would help Indian companies to grab a big share of the estimated $50 bn offshore engineering services market by 2020. According to a study by Nasscom and BoozAllen and Hamilton, the spending on global engineering services stood at $750 bn in 2004. It is projected to increase to $1.1 trillion by 2020. This translates into an additional $ 50bn opportunity for the Indian IT industry by 2020 - accounting for around 25 % of the total engineering services offshored.

" The revolution that happened in the IT industry earlier is all set to happen now with the engineering industry in India. STPIs have played a crucial role in building the IT services business. Hence, we want Nasscom to take up an initiative with the government to start 40 to 50 test laboratories, similar to STPls all over the country. This will take engineering to an entirely new level. There is a huge opportunity for engineering services companies in almost all spheres such as manufacturing, automotive, aerospace," said Ketan Bakshi, CMD, Neilsoft Ltd. The participants also discussed the I need for a push to the manufacturing sector for the healthy development of engineering services companies. "Apart from the need I for a strong inter-industry interaction, we want the manufacturing industry also to prosper as we have a strategic tie-up with them," said BVR Mohan Reddy, CMD, Infotech Enterprises Ltd.

Along with developing India as an engineering brand companies also asked for Professional Engineering examination to be made available in India so that Indian engineers can be at par with the global standards. There was also talk of Indian companies bringing in experienced engineers from developed countries to work in India for short stints to train the workforce in western practices. A 'itevlhallenge that emerged was the lack of quality education in engineering colleges and to mitigate this, increased industry-academia interaction.