The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) movement in smaller towns is set to get a fillip with the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry (MeitY) deciding to list BPO service offerings in the Government eMarketplace (GEM) portal. “I have asked my department to list BPOs in GeM portal. This will help the BPOs in smaller towns,” IT Minsiter Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

The move will help smaller BPO units to aspire for contracts from government departments, official sources said. Currently, most BPO units in smaller towns are not able to get government contracts. Prasad also said MeitY is also working on different BPO models, including allowing people to work out of their homes for providing such services.

He said government schemes such as BPO Promotion Scheme and Common Service Centres have helped create digital inclusion and equitable growth. The Minister said he has also directed MeitY to develop a portal on India’s BPO operations — their locations, professionalism and skills on offer — for people in India and abroad.

Promotion scheme

Reeling out data on the BPO Promotion Scheme, which has been in operation for the past few years, Prasad said that after four rounds of open bidding process, 18,160 seats have been allocated to 109 units of 87 companies distributed across 60 locations in 19 States and Union Territories.

Out of these, 76 units have started operation on 13,480 seats distributed across 48 locations in 17 States and Union Territories. The scheme has already created an initial employment for 10,297 persons, Prasad said.

After the fifth round of bidding that closed on November 4, 68 companies submitted bids for 17,000 seats which are currently under evaluation. Approximately, an additional 14,000 seats have been finalised and are being awarded. This will take the total number of allocated seats to 35,160.

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