TCS, Wipro in race for Rs 178cr BoM dealDileep Athavale / Pune March 14, 2006Wipro Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are in the race for the Rs 178 crore contract to provide core banking solution (CBS) to Bank of Maharashtra (BoM). Ajay Banarjee, general manager (information technology & inspection) of BoM, said the bank has completed the evaluation process, and a final decision is likely to be made "very soon".The CBS project will link nearly 600 branches of the bank with the central database in the first phase, which is to be implemented by March 2008. Banarjee added that the bank will sign a six-year contract with the final vendor, and pay around Rs 178 crore over the period of the contract."The project will begin with a pilot phase where we will test the solution in 25 key branches across the country, which will then be extended to other branches," Banarjee said. The implementation over the entire branch network of the bank will be completed over two-and-a-half years, he added.He clarified that the bank will retain its present banking software supplied by Kale Consultants, Veeramati and Magic.The bank has mandated management consulting firm Ernst & Young to advise on the selection process of vendors, deciding the technical and operational requirement and assist in the actual implementation of the solution.The expression of interest for the CBS project was announced in April 2005 after which the IT vendors were evaluated on the technical capabilities by a 40-member crack team formed for the purpose. The team had senior staff drawn from diverse functional areas including credit, planning, MIS and IT. Wipro and TCS have qualified in the technical bid and the final stage of financial bids, and the actual award of the contract is now due any time. "The final selection will be done according to the CVC guidelines,
