The Hindu Business Line : Cost advantage worked in Kochi's favour: OPI

THE US-based BPO firm Outsource Partners International has selected Kochi for its new service centre because of the cost advantage compared to other Indian cities, said Mr Clarence T. Schmitz, OPI's Chairman and CEO.

Addressing presspersons here after opening the company's service centre at the Leela Info Park on Thursday, he said Kochi's operations were cost-effective in terms of spending on employees and infrastructure.

The workforce here was 40 per cent cheaper compared to Bangalore and the infrastructure cost 50 per cent less compared to that city.

The Kochi centre would hire about 2,000 people in the next 18 to 24 months, but the company's headquarters would continue to be in Bangalore, he said.

"The new centre in Kochi expands our global capability, allowing us to support the rapid growth in demand for our services. Our commitment is to provide clients a unique onsite/offshore model that substantially reduces cost as well as improves financial reporting. I am confident that the new location will enable us to fulfil this commitment to our clients," he said.

Asked about plans to open more centres in the State, he said the emphasis would be on enhancing the capacity here before looking at opening centres in other parts.

OPI, a BPO firm specialising in finance and accounting services, started its Indian operations in 2001 at Bangalore with 15 personnel and at present employs 600 people in that city. OPI's nearly 900 employees operate through seven US locations and shared service centres in Dallas, Bangalore and Kochi. The firm is dedicated to outsourcing finance and accounting functions such as accounts payable, receivables, payroll, cash management, tax compliance, general accounting and financial reporting.

On the performance of the company, Mr Schmitz said the sales turnover at present was $40 million and the target was to achieve $100 million by mid 2007. At present the client strength was 40 to 50, including Cargill and KPMG, and mostly in the US, the UK and Switzerland.

Mr Kishore Mirchandani, CEO of the Indian operations, said that Kochi was selected following a search that looked at quite a few Indian locations. "We find that Kochi is a good destination in respect of cost and skill," he added.

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