Ricoh expanding India operations to spur growth

Japanese IT hardware-software major Ricoh Ltd is expanding its India operations to drive growth and increase its market share in products and services, a top company official said Thursday.

"We will invest Rs.500 crore this fiscal to expand our operations across the country... to offer our range of IT products, solutions and software services to more enterprises in the private and government sectors," Ricoh India managing director Manoj Kumar told reporters here.

The Mumbai-based Indian subsidiary, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, provides office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services to diverse verticals such as BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), healthcare, IT/IT-enabled services and education.

"We are upbeat about our growth and increased visibility in the Indian market where IT services will be a growth engine in coming years," Kumar said.

Global market research, analysis and advisory firm International Data Corporation reported that Ricoh had 28 percent market share in black and white multifunction printers and 40 percent in colour category during the first quarter of this calendar year.

Growing at 55-60 percent CAGR (cumulative average growth rate) over the last three years, the company's revenue shot up to Rs.1,047 crore in 2013-14 from Rs.300 crore in 2011-12.

For first nine months of the just-concluded fiscal, income from operations increased to Rs.1,010 crore from Rs.694 crore in like period of 2013-14, registering 46 percent growth.

The company will declare on May 26 its fourth quarter and fiscal 2015 results.

The company has recently bagged an Rs.1,370-crore order from the postal department to be the system integrator for its rural information and communication technology hardware solution to modernise 1,29,000 post offices across the country through automation.

The company has also won a project to install IT infrastructure in 5,629 gram panchayats across Karnataka and an IT project from the Tamil Nadu health department.

The Tokyo-based $18.5 billion Ricoh group operates in 200 countries.