The Hindu Business Line : Sify invests Rs 32 cr in Bangalore data centre

MR RAJU VEGESNA, CEO and Managing Director, Sify Ltd (left), and Mr Saji P.K., Vice-President, at a press conference in Bangalore on Friday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore, Oct. 27

Sify Ltd has invested Rs 32 crore in setting up its third data centre in Bangalore. The company has its other data centres in Mumbai and Chennai.

Mr Raju Vegesna, Chairman, Managing Director and CEO, Sify Ltd, said the data centre would provide primary data hosting and data recovery services for both global and local customers.

Sify has tied up with San Mateo-based life-sciences start-up Verseon to provide data management services from the Bangalore data centre.

Verseon, which is setting up a large computing infrastructure in India, would utilise about 25 per cent of Sify's 500-rack data centre in Bangalore, Mr Vegesna said. However, he did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

Further, Mr Vegesna said the company had a strong pipeline of customers and saw good potential for its data hosting and management services. Sify currently has a customer base of over 250 clients, including State Bank of India, UCO Bank, NDTV and Viacom.

Mr Vegesna also said that the company was exploring the options of turning its cyber cafés into e-stores.

As a first step in that direction, Sify has tied up with IRCTC to offer rail booking services at the iWays. Sify, which currently has some 3,500 iWays, is expanding the cyber café chain by adding about 2-3 cafés every day, he said.

For quarter-ended September 2006, Sify reported a net profit of $1.49 million on revenues of $30.1 million as compared to a loss of $1.34 million in the corresponding quarter last year.