Hyderabad: Asserting that the United States Senate's decision to ban sub-contracting by American companies "would not have any great impact on Indian Information Technology companies", IT major Satyam Computer Services Ltd said today (Jan 24, 2004) "such moves would not help in moving towards a free trade policy".

"Though the current move by the US Senate to bar offshoring of Government works will not have a great impact on Indian IT companies, it does not augur well for their own economy. Such decisions do not help in moving towards a free trade policy envisaged by the WTO (World Trade Organisation)," Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju said in a statement.

Satyam Computers, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company, has a major chunk of its software revenues coming from United States.

"The Senate Bill is yet to be passed as law and we hope the United States Government takes a more pragmatic view and does not get pressurised by political considerations," Raju said.

In the first Federal law against outsourcing, the US Senate on Jan 23 passed a law barring doling out sub-contracts to India and other countries by American companies as part of cost cuts.

The legal measure, originally sponsored by Republican Senator from Ohio George Voinovich and others, was included in a $ 328-billion spending Bill passed by the Senate.