Infy seeks nod to hedge entire export earnings

IT firm has assumed Rs-$ parity at 43.40 for current year earnings

Infosys Technologies, the Bangalore-based software bellwether, has moved the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking clearance to hedge its entire export earnings. The current RBI guidelines allow a company to hedge 50 per cent of its last year's revenue.

"We have request the Reserve Bank of India to allow companies to hedge full year's revenue," Nandan Nilekani, managing director and CEO, said here today. The company has assumed a rupee-dollar parity at 43.40 to for the current year's earnings.

Infosys plans to add 8,000-10,000 workers in the current fiscal. While its new US-based subsidiary Infosys Consulting Inc will employ 75 people in its first year, Nilekani said.

The company will recruit from all over the world. It has hired a top-level manager each from Deloitte, EDS Consulting, Ernst and Young, and Global CRM to head its consultancy wing, which will be focussing on attaining a "rapid growth and global leadership", Nilekani added.

The company had 25,000 employees as on March 31, 2004. Elaborating Infosys' plan to become a global major and consolidate its presence, Nilekani said, "The stress will be on global delivery model (GDM)." The company intends to focus on customer relation management sector and offer vertical solutions to leverage its global capabilities.

Nandan said that newly-founded Infosys Consulting Inc will evolve a "new consulting paradigm" emanating from a combination of high-value consulting and excellence of global delivery. The company will focus on constant innovation and redefine rules of the game, he said, adding the stress will be to "innovate and create".

Infosys Consulting is yet to get a client, but getting clients is "only a matter of time", he said. The consultancy business constitutes over 20 per cent of Infosys' total revenue, of which 16 per cent is from enterprise solutions.