BLS International to open over 2,000 centres in Punjab

Visa and passport outsourcing service provider BLS International Services will open more than 2,000 e-governance centres in Punjab with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore as part of the state's initiative to bring in transparency in governance by providing several services to the people at doorsteps.
After getting listed on NSE on June 14, the company listed itself on BSE on September 8, BLS International's Associate MD Shikhar Aggarwal said.
As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' initiative, the company is setting up as many as 2,147 e-governance centres, also known as Sewa Kendras, in Punjab.
The centres will minimise public interaction with various offices and enhance efficiency of the administration and delivery of services to common people. They would act as a catalyst to help people get their routine administrative works done in a speedy manner.

"Earlier, people living in remote areas had to travel more than 100 kilometres or even more to reach government offices for getting their job done. With this, they can get their job done at their villages itself. This practice will not only save their money, but also reduce harassment," Aggarwal told PTI in an interview.
Almost 1,500 centres have already been operationalised while rest of the centres would be inaugurated in next 15 days.

Aggarwal said these e-governance centres would not only help the government deliver their services to the people more effectively but also generate enough employment in the state.

"The project, meant to provide over 200 government services to people under one roof, will also generate revenue for the state government and would bring transparency in the work culture by bringing administration to the doorstep of the citizen," he said.
On the company's expansion plans, Aggarwal said, "we would have expanded our services in 20 more countries by the end of November 2016 and for which, the company is investing heavily".
"Keeping in mind the current competition level in the market, we are working hard to expand our services to as many countries as we can and things are moving in right direction," he said.

BLS has operations in more than 22 countries and is providing services through 101 offices worldwide. It handles close to three million applications annually.
In last three years, the company, which was founded in 2005, has increased its competence by doubling its application processing services.
BLS is also an authorised service provider for attestation of documents by the Ministry of External Affairs.
For the year ended March 2016, BLS International reported a revenue of Rs 505.5 crore and net profit of Rs 30.96 crore, a growth of 12.2 per cent and 30.9 per cent, respectively as compared to previous year, according to a company statement.