Having gained a leading role in software services, it is time India focussed on creating more companies making information-technology (IT) products, said Mr Som Mittal, President, National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), a body representing the IT industry.

�We should have at least 500 product companies in the next five years and around 2,000 by the year 2020,� he said at the seventh edition of Nasscom's EMERGEOUT Conclave in Chennai with the theme being �India as a launch pad � Next Generation IT Innovation�. �India should be [a] launching pad for product companies in future,� he said.

There are opportunities, especially for small and medium companies, to develop products in sectors such as cloud-computing, mobile applications and software as a service, he said. �The future is bright, and we need to make full use of it,� he said.