The Union Bank of Switzerland is investing Swiss francs 50 million ($40 million) in the UBS India Service Centre in Hyderabad.
The financial major's 11.5 acre centre will focus on knowledge services such as research and analytics, business process offshoring such as transaction and data processing and IT infrastructure support.
Seth Cohen, head of group offshoring, UBS AG, said, "Including the amount that we have already spent, we are investing 50 million Swiss francs in Hyderabad. This includes infrastructure, management and infotech costs."
UBS has already recruited 180 people in the city and by the end of the second phase of development will have a seat capacity of 1,500.
"This is likely in the first half of 2007," Cohen said, adding, "India is tailormade for offshoring with a great talent pool, favourable government policies and a greater maturity than other markets." By the end of December 2006, UBS plans to recruit 500 people in Hyderabad.
According to Vipul Khanna, chief executive officer of UBS Service Centre (India), with growing interest from UBS' product groups, there is likelihood of more processes being outsourced to Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, with regard to a bank licence in India, Clive Standish, chief financial officer of UBS AG, said that they had applied for one and were awaiting it.
On interest rates forecast, he said he expected rates to increase by 0.5 percent in the US, and 0.25 percent in India. "The Indian market is coming of age and it will get more significant over the years," Standish added.
UBS employs over 70,000 people globally and has a market capitalisation of close to $120 billion.
In India, it has a direct representative office in Mumbai and claims to be one of the top two foreign institutional investment brokers in the country.
