Harish Mehta

Software pioneer



It would not be an exaggeration to claim that Harish Mehta helped shape the
destiny of the Indian software industry in more ways than one. Along with

Saurabh Srivastava, Prakash Ahuja and Shashi Bhatnagar, he was one of the

founder members of Nasscom in 1987. But even more significantly, he handpicked

Dewang Mehta after a chance meeting in the corridors of Delhi's Taj Palace

Hotel and placed him at the helm of Nasscom. The rest as they say is a $18 bn

history (India's software export figures in 2006). One of the early IT

entrepreneurs in the country, Mehta headed the JV when Hinditron brought in

Digital during the 80s, the first MNC IT firm to arrive in India, post-IBM's

exit. Subsequently, he started Onward Technologies that formed a JV with Novell

to market its products in India.