Last year's position : Not Placed

Vajpayee's entrance straight in to the top 10 reflects the success of the whole Indian offshore IT services market in the past year. Globally, offshoring is forecast to grow 40 per cent this year alone, with three-quarters of businesses considering it - with most of the work tipped to go to the Indian sub-continent. India's boom - largely engineered by Vajpayee - means some analysts are predicting the country could face its own IT skills crisis over the next five years.

Initiatives introduced by Vajpayee include generous tax incentives for outsourcers investing in call centres and computer technology, technology parks and plans for a national fibre optics telephony infrastructure.

But his role over the next few years will be crucial, with India facing stiff competition from South Africa, Eastern Europe and China as a base for low-cost, low-risk IT services, with the domestic political and union issues for those Western companies looking to move large numbers of jobs overseas also on the horizon.