Warning bells are ringing on Bangalore's future as a leading BPO destination. It is not a full-blown crisis yet but the portents are disturbing, according to a cross section of industry, human resource and real estate experts.
The premier management institute, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, is in a bind. It had asked for Rs 114 crore (Rs 1.14 billion) to build infrastructure to accommodate additional students under the OBC quota.
The rural BPO centre will be established by the Tata Business Support Services -- the BPO wing and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons -- in partnership with Tata Steel Rural Development Society -- a corporate NGO managed by the Tata Group for the last 60 years. To start with, it is expected to employ around 200 people. Sources close to the development said the company has already recruited the first batch of the executives for the BPO unit.
Wipro, the $5 billion company with interests in IT services, consumer care, lighting and furniture, is entering a new set of businesses which will enable the company to leverage its growth on the clean energy and agriculture sectors. The company is readying a plan to include alternate energy, water treatment, food and agriculture businesses under its infrastructure business - Wipro Infrastructure Engineering Limited.
Ravi Singh aims to empower politicians by effectively planning campaigns using software technology. It's election time, and Ravi Singh, the founder of US-based ElectionMall Technologies, knows what it means to be in India.
Infosys BPO, which started knowledge process outsourcing services as a part of its BPO offerings four years ago, is aiming to make Gurgaon the hub for its KPO business.
According to industry estimates, 5 per cent of India's total gold consumption of about 750 tonnes is sold on this auspicious day alone. This year, too, customer's attraction towards gold is likely to continue despite high prices.
India's third-largest software company, Wipro, has initiated a second round of major business and executive changes within a few weeks. A fortnight ago, the company announced the appointment of Suresh Vaswani and Girish Paranjpe as joint chief executive officers of Wipro Technologies, the company's global IT arm.
While consulting firms and investment bankers preferred not to participate in the lateral placements as usual, sources say that companies such as KPMG, Aditya Birla Group, Barclays Bank, Microsoft, Infosys and Capgemini have issued the maximum number of offers.
More interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve to protect its slowing economy are likely to strengthen gold prices further with the metal being a safe haven for investors having offered handsome returns in the last year-and-a-half.
The country's Rs 60,000-crore (Rs 600-billion) diamond industry is likely to lay off 200,000 workers this year and with it the dream of making India a processing hub, according to Sanjay Kothari, chairman, Gems & Jewellery Exports Promotion Council, if the government does not frame favourable policies.
Sources say Carnegie Mellon's president Jared L Cohon, who was in Bangalore recently, held discussions with senior state officials in this regard. The university is planning to establish a skeleton presence in Bangalore to study the market condition before starting a full-fledged campus here. They want to help the IT sector in the country secure quality manpower.
Ordyn bagged the contract after qualifying in a competitive bidding process in which global giants such as Huawei Technologies, ZTE, HFCL, IComm and Arasor took part.
During the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, the company got its first $100 million (Rs 400 crore) account, which it had bagged almost four years ago as a $200,000 (Rs 80 lakh) per annum account.
Access to market is going to be the major problem faced by start-up IT firms looking to hit the market with innovative products or solutions. Access to venture or angel funding, which was considered the prime issue a couple of years ago, has now been relegated to second or third position.
Gold hits Rs.11,360, thanks to rate cuts by US Fed Bank and a languishing dollar.
India's second-largest IT services exporter targets Australia, Japan, South Africa.
The currency appreciation has increased the capital (in dollars) required for starting a business in India. The rising cost (in rupees) of employees, building space and infrastructure has only made matters worse.
In what may well be the first step towards establishing the first "human colony" on the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation is examining the possibility of establishing a robotic set-up or unmanned mission on the moon.
Indian software product companies, which are planning to raise venture capital funding, will have to ensure that their domestic and emerging market focus is sharp. Indian IT start-ups, which are introducing software products, have better prospects of availing VC funding, according to many VCs. It has always been difficult for start-ups in the software product space to compete with the global software giants, even in the domestic market, they note.
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