NASSCOM announces successor to Kiran Karnik

Bangalore

October 4th, 2007

NASSCOM has announced the appointment of Som Mittal as the successor to Kiran
Karnik, as President, NASSCOM. Mittal will assume the office of the President
from January, 2008. He is presently the head of services business of
Hewlett-Packard for Asia-Pacific and Japan region.

Announcing this, Harish Mehta, who headed the search committee for this role and
is a past Chairman of NASSCOM (and Chairman of Onward Technologies, said
"This is a challenging assignment, with NASSCOM playing a vital role in
sustaining the growth of India's IT industry. The search committee, which
comprised of past Chairmen of NASSCOM, the present Chairman and the President,
was looking for an outstanding individual to take up this key leadership role. I
am pleased that, in Mittal, we have such a person".

Congratulating Mittal on his appointment, Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman,
NASSCOM and Vice-Chairman, Board of Directors, Cognizant, said, "We are
delighted to announce the appointment of Som Mittal as President, NASSCOM. I
would like to formally welcome and congratulate him, on behalf of the entire
industry. His extensive experience in the IT industry, in addition to his
previous work in other sectors, brings a unique blend of industry-specific
knowledge as also broader global perspective. He has been Chairman of NASSCOM
(2003-04) and this has provided him direct insight into the functioning of the
Secretariat and the overall industry and also a strong relationship with the
industry leaders that will be invaluable to NASSCOM. His particular insights
into BPO and Remote Infrastructure services area will be of great value as the
industry innovates to sustain its global leadership against competition from
other nations".

Speaking on his appointment, Mittal said "I am honored to take up this
role as President of NASSCOM at this exciting stage of the industry's lifecycle
when the Indian IT/ITeS sector has established its position in the global
landscape and is continuously defining newer benchmarks. There is a very high
benchmark of this role as well and I look forward to continuing the excellent
work that Kiran Karnik and Dewang Mehta have done for this industry, across all
areas - the industry, customers, with the media, Governments and all other
stakeholders. I look forward to leading team-NASSCOM in these interesting times,
to enable both continuity and change to happen", he added.

Welcoming the selection of Mittal as his successor, Kiran Karnik said,
"It is a matter of great satisfaction to be handing over the reins to such
a capable individual. The industry has come a long way in the last few years and
it is a matter of great pride for me to have been part of this success story. I
look forward to working with Som over the next few months as we make our
respective transitions".