TCS eyes $500 mn sales in Japan

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest software services exporter, is aiming to boost sales in Japan five-fold to $500 million over four to five years, Chief Executive N Chandrasekaran said on Wednesday.

Until now, TCS and its Indian rivals have largely focused on clients in Europe and the United States.

"Our revenue in Japan today is less than $100 million on an annual basis," Chandrasekaran said.

"Our hope is to build it to at least half-a-billion dollars in the next four to five years," he said.

TCS said earlier it had formed a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp to offer services to clients in Japan, with an initial investment of $5 million.

TCS will hold 60% in the venture through subsidiary TCS Japan, while Mitsubishi will own the rest.

Shares in TCS, valued at about $48 billion, closed 1.8% higher at Rs 1,219.65. The overall market rose 0.48%.

Chandrasekaran told Reuters in January his company's order book was "very healthy" despite concerns about the impact of the Eurozone crisis on clients' budgets.

The country's outsourcing and business services industry is expected to chalk up sales of more than $101 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, up from $88.1 billion in the previous year, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said on Wednesday.

Exports, the largest component, are forecast to grow 16.3% to about $69 billion, Nasscom said.