The company is investing Rs 16 crore on these and other plans like opening more offices in the US, a new one in the UK for the European operations, starting a representative office in Japan, acquiring more space in Chennai, setting up advanced training facilities, investing on land in the emerging cyber triangle for the future consolidation of SRA at a single location, he told The Financial Express.

SRA is concnetrating more on Euro conversion projects and it intends to redeploy gradually its team that is working on Y2K compliance. Y2K may continue for a year after 2000, but Euro is to stay beyond the 1999 starting point.

``Ourstrategy is to locate one or two large companies in Europe especially France, Germany, Netherlands, besides the UK. A special team is set up and it is looking at the methodology, requirement of tools and procedure to perform Euro conversion. Marketing has started and the pilot project is expected to be ready in a few weeks,'' Srinivasan said.

The initial customers would be in non-European countries with operations in Europe. Then SRA plans move to Europe itself.

SRA has been working for Omroon, a factory in Japan, for the last four years. In the US over 75 people are working exclusively for the software requirements of CLR a tax management company. ``By next year we will be working for three or four large corporations in the US and Europe.''

SRA's stronghold in the coming years will be in document management, to help companies deal with their documents on paper, electronic, audio or video media. ``This needs a very different and specialised technology. Document has to be treated as an image orphotograph and calls for a range of technology,'' the CMD said.

A research and development team of 30 people to 35 people are working for newer version of `Odyssey' and making some additional products in the same area.

The city-based software company had a turnover of Rs 31 crore in 1997 is investing about Rs 16 crore. Half the money (Rs 8 crore) is coming from the sale of 23 per cent of its equity to Baring Investments India Ltd at premium of Rs 68 for a share of Rs 10. Exim Bank is giving a term loan of Rs 5 crore. The rest, Rs 3 crore, is own resources.

With the expansion the turnover is expected to go up to Rs 55-57 crore this year and to Rs 100 crore by the end of next year, he said.