The bombings in India's financial hub of Bombay are unlikely to slow India's fast growing economy or harm investor confidence, business leaders insisted yesterday.
That confidence was matched by the market yesterday with Indian stocks up 3 per cent.
Foreign companies have assured nervous investors that the eight bombs that ripped through Bombay's rail network on Tuesday would have little impact on India's economy, which has been expanding about 8 per cent a year, making it one of the world's fastest growing.
"This stuff happens everywhere. We have learned to live with it," William Ireland, a director at IBM in India, said.
Speaking in Bangalore, a southern city that is the hub of India's lucrative high-technology and outsourcing industries, he said the bombings had no impact on the services that IBM offers to 250 global clients from its India.
The attacks in Bombay had prompted fears Indian shares would plunge. Instead, the stock market rose - boosted by strong earnings results from Infosys Technologies, one of the nation's biggest software companies.
Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said: "India's growth story is intact. No need to worry about the Indian economy."
India's software companies reported more work being transferred by global companies to India. Infosys Technologies said it added 38 new clients during the April-June quarter, adding that its net profit jumped 44 per cent to $174 million, surpassing expectations.
AP