India to lead second wave of IT adoption: IBM

India may lead the second wave of IT (information technology) adoption as companies here kept up investments despite the recession and seemed more forward-looking than their counterparts globally, according to IBM Corp.

40 per cent of Indian companies, surveyed by IBM in July, said they wanted to be first to adopt a new technology, while only 11 per cent said they would wait till technology was widely available.

"In India, companies have cut back less and have really continued their investments. I think India is poised to lead the second wave of IT adoption and small-and-medium businesses (SMBs) are the engines driving this economic growth," IBM Corp's Vice President General Business and Marketing, Surjit Channa, said in Mumbai.

"I know of many companies that suffered from the recession but Indian companies have continued and survived...because they seem to be more forward-looking than their counterparts in the West and round the world," Channa said.

The recession had forced 37 per cent companies world-wide to slash their IT budgets compared to only 15 per cent in India, the survey said.

The US-based multinational has identified India as one of its major growth markets and will continue to invest here along with Brazil, China and Russia.