Narayan Murthy, during a visit to Chicago, said the company was exploring development centres abroad, but had not identified any specific company so far. "It is not easy to grow organically, so we have to look at acquisitions," he said.

Murthy said that 96 per cent of Infosys' revenues were from overseas. "So we have to create brand equity outside India," he said. Infosys had sales revenue worth $121 million in 1998 and market capitalisation worth $2.7 billion. "Infosys probably has the best brand equity among Indian IT companies," he added. Addressing students at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Murthy spoke on the need for "corporate governance. A majority of corporates in India do not understand the principles of corporate governance," he said.

"If weput public good ahead of private good, private good will surely follow," he added.

Speaking on the challenges before Infosys and the management of growth, Murthy said his concern was to see that the "stress on quality and productivity is maintained.

"In India, our salaries form 15 per cent of the overall revenue. Salaries are increasing at 25 per cent per annum," he said. "Other costs are increasing tremendously. Given the propensity of Indian companies to sell on cost, it is extremely difficult unless we have something unique," he said.

Speakers at the seminar noted that in a field where staff turnover was high, Infosys had a turnover of less than 5 per cent.