The Hindu Business Line : Dell set for $1-billion mark

Hyderabad June 25 Global technology major Dell is bullish on India with its business on course to hitting the $1-billion in revenue mark in the near future.

Alongside, the company is gearing up for the roll out of the first batch of computers with `Made in India' tag from its Sriperumbudur base near Chennai, where the company has invested $30 million. The plant has capacity to roll out 4,00,000 computers with facility to ramp up swiftly.

The Managing Director of Dell International Services India, Mr Romi Malhotra, said, "The company's business in India witnessed over 70 per cent year-on-year growth and we expect this trend to continue."

India sales

"From a little over half-a-billion dollar in revenues currently, we are set to hit the billion-dollar mark soon," he said, without hinting at the time line.

Referring to their India sales, Mr Malhotra said that they have managed to garner a big share of the business from the enterprise segment and trends point towards significant growth in the areas such as banking and financial services and insurance.

Asked about plans for retail sales, Mr Malhotra said, "As corporation that had traditionally focussed on online sales, it is witness to some new developments in the retail side. As a part of this drive, Dell has tied up with Wal-Mart for retail presence in the US. It all depends on how this will cascade. May be at a later date we may consider similar approach in India too."

INTERNTIONAL SERVICES

Asked about India market share, "We are not looking at merely volumes but are keen on addressing select areas of business in the enterprise and corporate segment. The focus is lately on BFSI, and small and medium enterprise business, which has emerged as one of the fastest growing businesses."

On plans for their international services arm, which has grown to about 14,000 people, Mr Malhotra said that the company had commissioned its fourth centre in Gurgaon following up on existing centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

It is proposed to grow the India headcount to about 20,000 within a couple of years and a big chunk of them would be in the new centre at Gurgaon, which has capacity to host about 2,500 people.

Referring to Hyderabad operations, Mr Malhotra said this centre has grown to about 4,000 people and is almost full. The next phase of growth would not cover Hyderabad for some time to come.