Dewang Mehta 1964 – 2001
No one will ever write “let us now praise famous lobbyists” and mean it, but in the case of Dewang Mehta such a sentiment might be forgiven. Mr. Mehta, who ran India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) was no mere corporate shill. His death in April was front-page news in India–and deservedly so.
Mr. Mehta drove the Indian software business and played no small role in turning it into the $6.4 billion force it is today. His relentless cheerleading, strong intellect, and political savvy helped push India’s politicians to surprising actions, like spurring the tax-happy Indian government to reduce taxes on software. His admonishments also prodded India into building software technology centers around the country and offering numerous incentives to software companies. Mr. Mehta was India’s real Minister of Information Technology, from no less an authority than Pramod Mahajan, who actually holds the post.
India will miss Mr. Mehta for many reasons, not the least of which is that the Indian software business is at a crossroads. Despite the country’s size, there are too few companies like Infosys Technologies (Nasdaq: INFY) and far too many software sweatshops doing contract programming. Though contract programming helped put India on the digital map, Mr. Mehta, a master motivator, had a bigger vision. The question now is, Who will step forward to take it to the next level?
It isn’t clear that any one person is up to the task–the workaholic Mr. Mehta’s obsession with Nasscom will be difficult to replicate, especially since it certainly helped cause his untimely demise. There is no lack of Indian entrepreneurs flourishing in the United States, and perhaps one or several of them might take up the reins.
In the meantime, other developing nations could do much worse than model their own technology efforts after what Mr. Mehta fostered in India.
