Intelenet Global to invest Rs 50 crore in expansion

Mumbai-based Intelenet Global Services Pvt Ltd, a BPO firm owned jointly (50:50) by HDFC and UK's Barclays Bank, has committed a budget of Rs 50 crore to expand its operations in Chennai. The company is also planning to scale up its headcount in the city to over 1,000 from the present 400-plus during this year.

The company will explore the potential in tier II cities like Coimbatore and Madurai for future expansion.

The expansion of Chennai operations, which will provide back office services to clients in banking and financial services vertical, comes on the heels of the company's business strategy of providing multi-locational delivery capability to its clients.

As part of the expansion, the company has acquired 50,000 sq ft in Ascendas IT Park. The new facility, in which the company has invested Rs 25 crore, will have a seating capacity for over 700 people.

The company is also in the verge of finalising another facility, which is expected to house about 1,000 people, in the city. Intelenet will be investing Rs 25 crore in this facility and is expected to make an announcement in the next two months. The expansion will be funded through internal accruals.

Addressing a press conference, Susir Kumar, chief executive officer, Intelenet, said there was significant acceptability for Chennai as a destination for voice-based BPO services among its customers. The city blended well with company's strategy to provide multi-location delivery services to its clients, he added.

Intelenet expects to grow to over 1,000 employees in Chennai by the end of this December from the present 400-plus. It will scale up the headcount to 1,500-2,000 in the subsequent years.

Kumar said Intelenet was in the final stages of forming alliances with two large international IT firms, which have no presence in India but were keen on establishing their operations in India. "As most of the present deals call for services integrating BPO with IT and consulting, these partnerships would bring in a platform and capability to serve those deals," he added.

Intelenet currently employs about 9,500 people in the country, of which 4,500 are working for international clients and the remaining people serve the domestic clients. It plans to ramp up its employee strength for international business to 15,000 and for domestic business to 10,000 by 2009 in an attempt to achieve leadership position in the BPO space, both in domestic and international market.

The company reported a topline of $65 million (about Rs 296 crore) for 2005-06 and is targeting between $75-$100 million (Rs 341 crore - Rs 455 crore) by the end of this financial year. The BPO services for Barclays is expected to account for 20 per cent of the top line by the end of the current financial year. Its present share is 8-9 per cent.

Currently, Intelenet serves about 15 international clients and 41 domestic customers (through its domestic BPO arm, Sparsh) across five verticals - financial services, insurance, retail, manufacturing, travel and hospitality. It has 11 delivery centres across the country.