Speaking to The Financial Express, Mr Rama Kanth said the projects include telecom, e-business, custom application development and implementation and facilities management. The company is also likely to execute another $1.5 million project in the same region by March 2001, he added.

Earlier, eSoft had formed a joint venture with the $100 million-Nazar Consulting , part of the Bahrain-based Al Baharna group, for addressing the software requirements of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Both eSoft and Nazar will have equal holding in the joint venture, Rama Kanth said.

The joint venture company will address the software requirements of companies in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia and also in the areas of telecom, e-business and networking, he said.

With an initial investment of $300,000, which is likely to be scaled up in the range of $2-3 million by March 2001, eSoft has projected a turnover of $2.5 million for March 2001 and to touch $5 million by 2002, he said.

The joint venture company, which is yet to be named, is for massive expansion in the Gulf region in IT services and also increase its client base, he said. The company has already completed pilot projects in the Middle East with clients like Oriental Press Group, Bukanan group, Al-Attar Pharmacy, etc.

The offshore development centre (ODC) in Hyderabad has already shipped projects worth Rs 2.4 crore and is planning Rs 5-6 crore shipment by March 2001. This centre provides high speed data connectivity with the US where the company is also looking out for strong partners. eSoft ODC offers a wide range of services ranging from maintenance, development and conversion of applications to feature development of systems software, Mr Rama Kanth added.