IT giant Infosys Technologies became the first company to ring the opening bell of the Nasdaq stock exchange from India.
Infosys chairman Narayan Murthy rung the customary opening bell, which marks the beginning of the day's trading session, through an electronic sign-in screen installed at the company's Mysore campus.
Company CEO Nandan Nilekani followed Murthy in signing in the screen at a function attended by Nasdaq President and CEO Bob Grerfeld, India's Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and thousands of Infosys employees.
As the symbolic gong was sounded, Infosys' website lead netizens to a special homepage that declared that the "World is Flat."
The event was broadcast live from the Infosys campus here to Nasdaq's MarketSite tower in New York's Times square that carried a message welcoming Infy to Nasdaq.
Bangalore-headquartered Infosys, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, was the first Indian company to be listed on the Nasdaq in 1999.
"Twenty-five-years ago, we founded Infosys with a vision of the global delivery model. That vision has been validated as the tide of globalisation has swept across the world and businesses are dramatically changing how they run their organizations," said Murthy.
He recalled that while listing Infosys on Nasdaq, he had said that the listing might be a small step for Nasdaq but a giant leap for Indian software industry and Infosys.
"Opening the Nasdaq market from India is not only a great honour for Infosys, but also illustrative of the emerging new world."
Infosys' share price on the Nasdaq surged ahead more than 3 per cent within minutes after the trading session commenced, although the broader Nasdaq Composite Index was trading in the red in the early morning trade.
He said that Infosys was the first ever company on the Nasdaq to report its balance sheet while satisfying the GAAP guidelines of eight different countries.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who was present at the ceremony, said that Infosys was a perfect example of the Indian economic reforms. Jubilation was quite evident among the Infosys management and thousands of employees gathered on the football field as the opening bell was rung, amidst cheers.
Infosys revenue has grown 18-fold- from $121 million in 1999, when the company was listed on Nasdaq, to $2.1 billion in 2005-06. Profits have grown from $30 million to $555 million, he said.
Murthy said Nasdaq has enabled Infosys to take a giant leap in the global market.
