In a bid to foster understanding between Indian and Japanese IT professionals, Tata Consultancy Services has started the TCS Japan Technology and Culture Academy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on a state visit to Japan, inaugurated the Academy on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Modi also flagged off the first batch of 48 trainees from TCS’ Japan unit who will undergo training for six to eight weeks at various locations in India.
“You are going as employees of TCS but I want you to come back to Japan as ambassadors of India,” Modi told the trainees, according to a press statement from the company.
The trainees will also receive on-the-job training on projects for six months, it said. In April, TCS had announced its intent to merge two of its units in Japan with the IT Frontier Corp (ITF), a $500-million subsidiary of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi. The new firm, to be christened TCS Japan, will help the Tata Group company build scale and acquire new clients in that country.
Before the merger, TCS’ Japan revenues amounted to $100 million. The Japanese IT services market is worth $100 billion but accounts for less than two per cent of India’s software exports. None of the home-bred IT firms had crossed the $150-million revenue threshold in Japan, analysts said.
TCS Japan will initially house more than 4,000 employees in Japan and India. The TCS scrip was up by 0.07 per cent to close at ₹2539.1 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.