Six of nine mid-tier IT firms grew 10%-plus in rupees; in dollars, only two did

01The gap: 8 to 13 points, at every firm

Indian IT firms sell mostly in dollars, pounds and euros and report in rupees. When the rupee weakens, each dollar earned converts into more rupees, and the reported figure rises with no new work done. Birlasoft and Hexaware both print the rate they used: an average of about ₹88.2 to the dollar in July to September 2025 and about ₹95.5 a year later.⁹¹⁰

The gap is wider at the fastest growers because the rate applies to the whole of a bigger number: Persistent’s 20.0% in dollars, multiplied by a dollar worth 8.3% more, comes to about 30%, and it reported 30.3%.² Constant currency, which restates revenue at last year’s rates, removes every currency’s move, and on that basis growth on a year earlier was 20.8% at Persistent, 9.7% at Mphasis, 6.8% at Happiest Minds, 4.5% at Hexaware, 2.0% at Zensar and 1.3% at Sonata.^12481011 Two shrank: Mastek by 0.6% and Birlasoft by 1.1%, while their rupee revenue rose 8.3% and 6.6%.⁷⁹

02Who grew anyway

Growth on the previous quarter in constant currency is the cleanest comparison: the rate barely moved between the two quarters (₹94.86 to ₹95.48 on average, 0.7%), and currency is stripped out in any case.¹⁰

Persistent stands apart, and its chief executive, Sandeep Kalra, said why: the growth “was underpinned by two large things”, a large deal with one of its largest technology customers, described on the same call as a 6.5-year engagement worth more than US$650m, and a vendor consolidation at one of its largest financial-services customers.³ Coforge shows the third thing a headline can blend in. Its revenue grew 10.1% in the quarter in dollars and 10.9% in constant currency; its organic constant-currency growth, without acquisitions, was 3.8%. Its fact sheet lists integration expenses for Encora, the business it bought.⁵⁶

The same measure for the same quarter at India’s four largest firms, from our note on their AI revenue: HCLTech 2.3%, Infosys 1.2%, TCS 0.5% (as press-reported), Wipro’s IT services flat.¹² Six of the nine mid-tier firms grew faster than HCLTech, the fastest of the four, and eight grew faster than Infosys, with Sonata level at 1.2%. Coforge’s figure is organic; the majors’ are as reported.

03How to read the next results headline, and what to watch

• Find the dollar line, then the constant-currency line. Rupee growth tells you what the firm reports. Dollar and constant-currency growth tell you what its clients bought.
• Prefer the previous quarter when comparing firms. In the year-on-year figure, this year’s weaker rupee is compared with last year’s stronger one.
• Ask what is inside it. Acquisitions (Coforge), one large contract (Persistent) and the scope of the line (Sonata’s International Services, not its Indian resale business) all change what a percentage means.
• Do not rank margins across these filings. Some firms lead with EBIT and some with EBITDA.

A weak rupee also helps on costs, since salaries are paid largely in rupees, and hedges take some of it back. Persistent’s finance chief, Vinit Teredesai, counted “favorable currency moments” among the tailwinds in its margin; it also booked a foreign exchange loss of ₹45.58 crore, with US$500m of forward contracts outstanding at an average ₹95.6.³ Coforge’s fact sheet shows a hedge loss of ₹97.1 crore in the quarter.⁶

What to watch. The base. The year-on-year gap exists because the rupee was stronger a year ago, so it moves with the rate in each comparison quarter. The October to December filings, due from January, will show whether constant-currency growth holds at firms that had a large contract ramp, and whether Birlasoft and Mastek return to growth on a year earlier. As with Fractal’s first US$100m quarter, the number to look for is the one without the exchange rate in it.