Chennai, Feb 25: EDS-Electronic Data Systems (India) Pvt Ltd has targeted a revenue of over $100 million during 1999. A subsidiary of the $15.2 billion IT services major-EDS, USA, it plans to recruit 1000 professionals in the country this year."The proposed recruitment will take care of our current requirements," EDS corporate business development and emerging markets vice-president Shaukat Harji said at the inauguration of its Chennai regional office and India centre.
EDS India is likely to open another centre in Chennai during the second half of the current year. Other centres in cities including Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai are also under consideration. About 400-500 professionals will be recruited in Chennai and the remaining in other cities.
"We will be making sizeable investments in India," Harji said, but refused to divulge the exact amount. "From operating on a reactive mode over the last two years, we are now looking at India on a coherent basis," he said.
The company will also look at thecountry as a systems engineering and technical resource pool and will use its India facilities to cater to its clients globally. "We will also be making substantial efforts in market development," Harji said.
The Chennai centre will initially focus on supporting two EDS global customers -- American Express Bank and General Motors. The facility will house 120 employees. It will also serve as a hub for its operations throughout India.Initially, we have decided to go into the Indian market alone. But we will not rule out joint ventures and acquisitions in the future," Harji said. "We see tremendous potential in the financial services, manufacturing, distribution and other areas in India," Harji said.
The global IT services is currently pegged at around $450 billion, but EDS' share is only $15.2 billion. The world market is expected to grow to $3 trillion by 2002. "Not only are we looking to increase our share, but we want to grow faster than the market," Harji said.EDS is a leader in the IT servicesindustry with over 1.1 lakh employees around the globe.
Copyright(c)1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
