Infosys chief and co-founder S Gopalakrishnan today said the Indian ITindustry would tide over the current downturn and may surpass the US in termsof having the largest number IT professionals in the world in the next threeyears.

"In the IT revolution, we are at the centre. We are underinvested, butthat is an opportunity. A lot of investment is being done in R&D herebecause talent is available here. Our education system provides for that,"Infosys CEO and Managing Director Gopalakrishnan told reporters here.

"We will be the largest IT country in the world, second only after the US.In the next three years, we will be the largest in the world," he said. Gopalakrishnansaid that the industry offers significant opportunities over the next 30 years.

"We are at the very early stages of the IT industry. Only 25 per cent ofthe full leverage of IT is understood and used. The impact of IT will besignificant in the next 25-30 years. There is still money to be made and wealthto be created in IT," he said.

IT was "exciting as ever" and that there was probably still 25-30years of impact left before the industry becomes mainstream, he said at'Systems Continuum 2009', organised by IIT Bombay's Shailesh J Mehta School ofManagement.