TCS bags Rs 1,280-cr contract from UK

TCS, India’s largest IT services company, on Wednesday said that it had bagged a multi-year contract from the UK government’s home office department to manage the technology requirements of its newly-formed Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

The company did not divulge the value of the contract. Sources said the contract, with an initial tenure of five years, is of £145 million ($232 million or Rs 1,285 crore). This may well make it one of the largest deals the company has bagged in Europe in recent years.

Media reports had earlier said UK-based back office services provider Capita had been in the fray for the contract.

As a part of the contract, TCS would enable transformation of DBS by introducing applications and online services, which will help in enhancing user experience. The Tata company will also build new integrated case management system to support seamless integration and information gathering between disclosure and barring services.

“Our proposed IT solution supports the UK government’s ‘digital by default’ initiative and fully meets the business objectives of DBS to modernise and transform its business,” said Shankar Narayanan, country head, UK & Ireland, TCS.

The company, which derives about 26 per cent of its revenues from Europe, has been fairly successful in the region in terms of winning large contracts.

In November last year, the company bagged a $2.2 billion (Rs 11,037 crore) outsourcing contract from UK-based pension provider Friends Life. That was said to be the second biggest contract for the company after the $2.8-billion (about Rs 12,542 crore) order it had bagged from the Citigroup in 2008.

In 2010, the company had bagged a 10-year IT outsourcing contract of £600-million (Rs 4,150 crore) from UK’s Personal Accounts Delivery Authority to administer the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme.

Some of TCS’s other government clients in the UK include Cardiff City Council, Child Maintenance Group (a division of Department for Work and Pensions), and The Big Lottery Fund.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2012, TCS had reported 5.7 per cent sequential growth in the UK, which contributed 17.1 per cent of the company’s total revenues.