IT firm Persistent expands Goa centre

Persistent Systems has expanded its Goa facility which the software firm said will increase employee intake capacity multi-fold and boost growth.
"The expansion includes doubling of the existing area. The facility can now accommodate 700 software developers as against existing 400," Anand Deshpande, Chairman and Managing Director of Persistent, told reporters here yesterday.
"We are in Goa since 2005 and have over 400 employees working on next generation technology areas like analytics and cloud computing.
"We are pleased with the work ethics and capabilities of the Goa team. Post-expansion, we are in a position to rapidly grow our operations in Goa," he said.

Deshpande said the Goa centre at Verna, about 20km from here, contributes 10 per cent of Persistent's all-India operations and with the latest expansion, the share is likely to grow further.
The Pune-based company, which specialises in software product and technology services, has clients like Cisco and Microsoft.

"The Goa facility handles more than Rs 60 crore business and had been growing at 15 per cent year-on-year. With the expansion, we expect the growth rate to touch 20-25 per cent," Girish Bharne, Centre Head, Persistent, said.
The company has been recruiting youths from the local colleges.
The aim is to avoid brain drain from Goa and provide jobs to local software engineers, Bharne added.