New Delhi: Indian IT industry which is reeling under the global slowdown has something to its relief as a recent study conducted by Evalueserve, an offshore research and analyze firm, says that Indian IT industry would continue to drive the global IT market for the next few years and emerge as the second largest IT industry in the world after the U.S. in terms of revenue and employment.

The study titled 'India's Role in Globalization of the IT Industry' is yet to be released. It states that domestic IT industry's contribution to the GDP is likely to rise from 0.8 percent in 2006-07 to 2.65 percent by 2015-16. In terms of the number of IT professionals, the study reveals that the number will grow to ten-fold from 2001-02. The revenue will also increase by 22 times from the previous years. It shows that, by 2016 India will have the second highest number of IT professionals in the world after the U.S.

By 2016, U.S. IT industry will generate revenue of approximately $810 billion which will be almost five times the Indian IT industry's revenue, the study also predicts that both Indian and U.S. IT industries will import and export more IT services and products for the next seven or eight years.

However the study estimates that the export of Indian IT services which has been growing at 32 percent annually will decline by 20 percent due to rise in wages, lack of high quality talents, and IT jobs relocating to other low-cost destinations in Eastern Europe and Latin America.