Zicom managing director Pramod Rao said the company is setting up the development centre from internal accruals. The centre will also play a key role in developing other electronic security systems for the domestic market."We plan to launch our home security systems in major metros and other cities such as Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Pune," Rao said. The solutions will include both bell alarms and fire alarms.

According to Rao, the all-purpose electronic card offers many facilities. Motorola cards are used by financial institutions as debit cards and credit cards, by telecom companies as pre-paid calling cards, by transit operators as pre-paid fare cards, and by the government, corporates, universities, and agencies in healthcare.

Financial institutions like IDBI are expected to purchase nearly a million smart cards for various transactions, Rao added. The company is likely to grab major business opportunities in these areas for specific card solutions.Rao said that in India, many state governments are trying to include electronic cards in one way or another. A typical project is the Gujarat government's move to provide smart cards to employees on credit and withdraw salary. The card solution include cards, readers, terminals, and software.On the home security front, a solution under deployment is the distant monitoring system.

Developed on the styles of the US, the company's control centres will monitor homes through the burglar and fire-alarm device. "At present, we plan to offer this service free, but we intend to charge a monthly service fee from customers who choose them," Rao said.

On the technological side, every person in a home will be given a personal password, which will entered on the machine before locking and leaving the house. The device, connected to a telephone line, will grab and use it to dial to the control centre in case there is a house break or fire. The company posted a turnover of Rs 8 crore last year. A Zicom official said that he expects sales to jump by as much as five times over the next two years once its major projects go onstream