Aegis, the global business services provider from the Essar Group stable, is entering Kerala by setting up a 500-seater facility in Thiruvananthapuram.
The centre will go on stream in July, according to Sandip Sen, Global CEO of the company, who was here to chair a three-day business strategy session.
In fact, it was the search for an anchor company that had delayed the company’s entry into the State, Sen said.
“We’ve always been willing to look at Kerala but we said let’s wait for a client who can offer us 400 to 500 seats. Our policy has not been to set up a centre first and then look for clients.”
Asked how he proposed to have the facility up and going in such short time, Sen said the company’s size and scale afforded it the capability.
“We’re in the middle of May and I’m giving you a date in July. We have two options. First is going for pure plug-and-play. The other is moving into a ‘shell’ facility with air-conditioning and false ceiling in place.”
Telecom play Even the second option suited the company just fine since it relies on mostly pre-fabricated stuff, Sen explained. Either way, the company was ready.
“As we speak, my colleagues are actually scouting for space. We will have 300 to 500 people to start with.” The plan is to look for other clients, Sen said.
In telecom, the company already had a business that it wanted to do out of Kerala. “We currently are present in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Sivaganga in the South.
“We feel it is important to have a presence in Kerala as well.” Telecom apart, the company was looking into other industries to branch out.
‘Malayalam’ business “Currently, we do Malayalam support services from centres such as Coimbatore, Bangalore, and Chennai. We may move these to Thiruvananthapuram.
“We may look for more such centres in cities such Kochi and Kozhikode and other towns...but we are not committing on any at this time.”
While most of the business in Thiruvananthapuram would be sourced domestically, the company would have some international business coming into the State as well.
“We are working with a telecom company in Saudi Arabia (Saudi Telecom) and they have given us our Malayalam business.
“There are a few other companies in the Middle East who are willing to move to us the Malayalam business. So, Thiruvananthapuram will handle both domestic and international business for us,” Sen added.