Syntel India to invest $20 m in new facility

Syntel India, an IT services outsourcing and BPO company, is planning to invest around $20 million for constructing the first phase of its campus facility to come up in the IT corridor at Siruseri, near Chennai.

The additional capacity will enable Syntel to move some of its IT services outsourcing and high value financial services, healthcare and home mortgage insurance BPO work to Chennai.

Keshav R Murugesh, chief operating officer, Syntel, indicated that Chennai is an ideal location for the high value BPO work in the financial services area.

This investment is in addition to the $20 million that the company has earmarked in 2005 for expansion of its Pune campus facility and other cities where it has its presence. The campus style facility is to come up in two phases in a 28-acre area in Siruseri.

"We would decide by end October (2005) as to when we want to commence building the facility. In stage one, we shall create a capacity for about 3,000 seats," said Murugesh.

Syntel India already has two facilities in Chennai with a 1,500-people capacity where it currently employs between 1,200 and 1,300 individuals. Phase one of the construction is expected to start by the end of 2005 and will be completed in less than a year's time.

The built-up area in phase one will be similar to the 3,25,000 sq ft that the company put up in the first stage at its Pune facility.

In phase one at Pune, the company has created a 3,000 seater capacity which can be used by either IT services or BPO professionals.

Syntel will also double its current headcount in Chennai by next year end from 1,200-1,300 to around 2,700 employees. Though phase two construction plans have not been firmed up as yet, it will entail adding approximately another 3,00,000 sq ft to the planned 3,25,000 sq ft.

The company expects most of its growth to come from Pune and Mumbai in future. Syntel India is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Michigan-based $187 million Syntel Inc.