The Hindu Business Line : Unisys Corp to set up $180-m India centre

Mr Cal Killen, Vice-President, Solution Development, Unisys Global Services, and Mr Mukul Agrawal, MD, Unisys Global Services-India, at a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday. - - G.R.N.Somashekar

Bangalore , April 28

THE US-based Unisys Corp on Wednesday announced its plans to invest $180 million over five years in setting up a development centre in Bangalore.

The company, which is already working with several Indian vendors, plans to hire about 2,000 people directly over five years, said Mr Cal Killen, Vice-President (Software Development), Unisys Global Services.

Unisys' India centre will provide software development; maintenance, back-office operations and technical help-desk services. "It is our first offshore centre specifically set up as a cost centre for doing offshore work for Unisys clients," Mr Killen told a press conference.

The company plans to hire about 300 people in the current year and add another 700 next year, said Mr Mukul Agrawal, Managing Director, Unisys Global Services India. The bulk of the hires initially would be for software development services, while by end-2006 the number of employees working in BPO operations was expected to double, as the BPO business was expected to grow faster, he said.

Commenting on the backlash in the US against outsourcing, Mr Killen said, "Offshoring of jobs has become a political football over the last few months. In the long run, offshoring is what the US and Europe have to do to remain competitive. India has the skills."

Unisys was looking at possible acquisitions in India to boost its presence, especially in the BPO space. "The idea is on the table," Mr Killen said.

"The expansion in India would only lead to some small redundancies in other countries, with much of the job cutting already carried out as part of the transition process," he said. For the last few years, Unisys has been transitioning itself from a hardware firm to a services company.

Unisys Global has tie-ups with third-party vendors such as Caritor, Hexaware, NIIT and Tata Infotech, among others, wherein close to 500 engineers work for the company.

Unisys, which has been operating in India for several years, was a joint venture partner of the Tata Group before the two parted ways in 1997. Unisys' key Indian clients include Air India, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

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