The Hindu Business Line : Exim Bank outfit breaks into full-fledged services in Iran

GLOBAL Procurement Consultants Ltd (GPCL), a private sector company promoted by Exim Bank in association with leading public and private sector consultancy organisations and other companies, has broken into the area of full-fledged "Procurement Management Advisory Services" in Iran, and would be "Administering procurement reforms" in Guyana.

Talking to Business Line here recently at the sidelines of a FICCI-organised Banking Conclave, Mr T.C. Venkat Subramanian, Chairman and Managing Director of Exim Bank and Chairman of GPCL, said he was confident that GPCL would grow in a sustainable manner and establish itself as one of the leading international consultants in the sphere of sound procurement governance.

The company paid 10 per cent dividend to all its shareholders, including Exim Bank, from 2001 to 2004 and 15 per cent for 2004-05.

Describing GPCL as an independent consultancy firm, the CMD put its income in the range of Rs 1.5 crore, of which nearly 85 per cent was in foreign exchange.

Pointing out that fee-based procurement-related consultancy work was now emerging as an important part of Exim Bank's business portfolio, he said the company was already in discussions with the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry to explore the possibility of appraising projects financed in various countries under Government of India Lines of Credit.

The CMD said GPCL has already started 2005-06 with a challenging workload, with a potential consultancy income of Rs 3 crore.

Asked if the company could emerge as a fullfledged management consultancy organisation, particularly with regard to project exports, the CMD said the organisation's credentials have been well recognised by the World Bank, DFID (UK) and the African Development Bank.

"The experience that we have gained can very well be expanded to full fledged project management consultancy exports. In this direction, he clarified, they can pool India's expert resources in various sectors, for which "GPCL has a dedicated personnel data base".

Mr Subramanian said in some of the assignments, in order to augment its credentials, GPCL collaborates with its shareholder associates such as TCE Consulting Ltd, WAPCOS, Rites and CES.

Some of the other corporate associates are Mecon, ICICI, Dalal Mott-Macdonald and Kirloskar Consultants.

Commenting on the job profile of the company, he said considering the large quantum of multilateral development funds currently flowing into developing countries, and the range of sectoral products that go along with such funds, there was an urgent need for professional procurement management services.

Many projects have been known to suffer delays and cost overruns because of poor procurement practices, he pointed out.

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