A Stiffer Challenge

The US-based $1.8-billion Deluxe Corporation, a Fortune 1000 company, plans to invest Rs 20 crore in its wholly owned Indian subsidiary iDLX Technology Partners Pvt Ltd to set up its new software development centre at Chennai and to enhance the capacity of its shared service centre at Gurgaon.

The company would invest Rs 10 crore of the total investment into its new software development centre in Chennai by March 2000 and another Rs 10 crore to enhance the capacity of its existing shared services centre at Gurgaon.

"This will be our second development centre in India. We already have one in Chennai employing more than 300 software professionals," iDLX Technology Partners Pvt Ltd southeast regional director B Tony Burkhart said.

The company is planning to enter into e-funds and automatic teller machine market in India. "We are talking with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the State Bank of India (SBI) and various other banks and financial institutions to initiate our plan. We hope that the company will fare well in the domestic market once the cyber laws come into effect," he said.

"We will provide customised versions of solutions related to e-commerce, Internet banking, electronic payment services and business process management in the market," he added.

Business from the Asean region, with India as the hub, is part of Deluxe's plans to touch about $2.15 billion revenue figure by 2004.

As a global infotech services and business process outsourcing firm, iDLX's primary services are in segments such as business process outsourcing, software development and support, electronic payment services and electronic commerce/Internet banking.

With an aim to build up the market here, iDLX will invest an additional $25 million over the next five years. es. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has yet to clear the revised project cost. The CEA had cleared a project cost of about Rs 4,300 crore in 1996. The Hindujas have consistently maintained that the cost escalation is due to the rupee-dollar exchange rate rising to Rs 44 from the then prevailing Rs 31. Secondly, the project is yet to get escrow cover.