In line with the global trend, the services sector in India is growing exponentially. In 2000-01 the share of services in the country's GDP was 54.2 per cent, up from the 51.5 per cent recorded in 1998-99. And, all indications are that this growth will get accelerated not only because of burgeoning of services within India, but also because of their increasing export.
According to the World Development Indicators, 2003, recently released by the World Bank, India's services sector clocked an average 7.9 per cent growth per annum between 1990 and 2001, against 6.9 per cent between 1980 and 1990, beating the global rate of 3.1 per cent. Thus India's services sector has emerged among the top-five fastest growing in the world during 1990-2001, surpassing its track record in the 1980s.
The IT Enabled Service (ITES) sector, the fastest growing segment of the service industry, recorded 70 per cent growth in 2001-02, while the global market is projected to over US$ 142 billion by the year 2008.

In 1997-98, services accounted for nearly 48.6 per cent of India’s GDP, far more than the contributions of the agricultural or the manufacturing sectors (RBI Annual Report, August 1998).
Not surprisingly, Mckinsey & Co. predict a $ 17 billion services industry by 2008, which can result into a combined saving of $ 17 billion for organisations that move their back-office processing to India.
Nonetheless, this represents just a small section of the global services industry.