The Hindu Business Line : CSC to pump in $20 m; plans 2 new facilities

GLOBAL IT services company Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) plans to invest at least $20 million during the next fiscal for expanding its operations across India, including establishing two new centres.

"In the next financial year, we expect to spend at least $20 million which will be utilised for setting up a new centre at Noida and another one either in Hyderabad or some new location such as Chennai, Bangalore or Pune," Dr Arun K. Maheshwari, President, Managing Director and CEO, CSC India, said.

CSC centres have three facilities in Noida, and one each in Hyderabad and Indore.

"At the beginning of this financial year, we were projecting a growth of about 75 per cent in headcount and revenues, but things are shaping up well and we have a chance to hit 100 per cent growth. For the next financial year also, our target is 75 per cent growth, and I am confident that we can sustain this growth momentum for at least 2-3 years," Dr Maheshwari said.

CSC expects its headcount to touch 3,000 professionals by March 2005 from the existing 2,200.

"Our next facility is coming up in Noida in the next three months. This will be our sixth facility in the country and fourth in Noida. We would possibly have yet another facility at Noida by December 2005," he said.

CSC India was in the process of conducting a study to chart out the future roadmap for its capacity expansion. The study is expected to be completed by March 2005, he added.

Commenting on the expansion plans, he said "We would prefer to expand in a new location as it would give us access to additional pool of professionals. Therefore, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune are the top options for us," he said, adding the company would weigh all its options before zeroing in on a new location.

"For instance, while Bangalore has a large pool of people and good educational institutions, I feel it is super saturated and attrition level is also quite high. Similarly, Chennai has a pool of mainframe professionals but is already saturated. We may consider locating our facility in a suburb in Pune," he pointed out.