'In the face of a severe economic downturn in key markets, the industry was able to deliver a high growth of over 16 percent and retain its position as a strategic global sourcing destination,' he said.

The study said Tata Consultancy was the country's top exporter of information technology services in 2008-09, followed by Infosys Technologies, Wipro HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra.

Among exporters of business process outsourcing services, however, the top slot was taken by Genpact India, followed by WNS Global Services, IBM-Daksh Business Process Services, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.

'A significant highlight of the year was the industry thrust to re-engineer itself to partner with its clients in testing times,' said Som Mittal president of Nasscom, while releasing the report.