Tata Tech Chalks Out Multi-Pronged Expansion Plan

Tata Technologies, one of the information technology companies promoted by Tata Sons, has drawn up a multi-pronged expansion plan which envisages investment of Rs 40 crore in two phases, doubling revenues in a year's time and acquiring an infotech company.

"Our strategy is to grow our business exponentially. We expect revenues and profits to double over the next 12 months," Patrick McGoldrick, chief executive and managing director of Tata Technologies, said.

Tata Technologies is a specialised IT consulting firm which provides strategic consulting services to global and large domestic manufacturers, especially automotive and aerospace majors.

The company, with over 1,300 professionals, has partnerships with industry leaders to provide consulting, application implementation, remote engineering services and software development services. The company's customers include Tata Engineering, Airbus, Ford and DaimlerChrysler.

Explaining the company's expansion plans, McGoldrick said, in the first phase, the company would invest close to Rs 17 crore by August 2002. The investments would go towards setting up a new software development centre in Pune.

"At the Pune facility, we will be doing high-end technology development work and have acquired about 9.5 acres of land for building the campus," he said. The company will also set up five dedicated technology outsourcing centres for some of its key customers.

The company is banking heavily on an acquisition to ramp up growth. "We are looking at various companies both in India as well as abroad," McGoldrick said.

Tata Technologies recorded a profit of Rs 4.5 crore on Rs 80 crore revenues during 2000-01. The company, which gets about 34 per cent of its revenues from exports, expects this revenue will go up to 40 per cent in the next financial year.

"In 1998, exports contributed only one per cent to our revenues, but since then we have grown considerably. We will be tapping the international markets more actively," McGoldrick said, pointing out that the company is looking at getting aggressive in the US and European markets.

The company also expects that the revenues from its parent company, Tata Engineering, which was about 50 per cent during 2000-01, to come down to 30 per cent in the current financial year due to increased focus on the international markets.