Sutherland plans to locate BPO campus in Kochi

Wednesday February 1 2006 00:00 IST
KOCHI: The New York-based Sutherland Global Services is making its foray into Kerala with a BPO campus in Kochi at an investment of Rs 120 crore.

It plans to set up a service delivery centre and training infrastructure on 25 acre at Kalamassery in Kochi, which will absorb 3000 professionals over the next three years.

The BPO facility is expected to go on stream in the third quarter of 2006. �We will start operations with 500 employees. In the next 36 months, the employment will be ramped up to 3000. In the long term, the company is looking at an employment of 7500,'' Dilip Vellodi, chairman and CEO of Sutherland Global Services, said.

He said the company decided to open its third office in India at Kochi after considering the key elements of infrastructure, human resource and local support. �We were satisfied on all these fronts,'' he said.

According to Vellodi there was good support from the government. The huge talent pool and robust infrastructure in Kerala will provide advantages of cost, scalability and value across the spectrum of services.

In Kochi, Sutherland will be focusing on financial verticals particularly in the mortgaging of property. Besides, it will provide technology support to its clients. Software development and training will be other important areas. Of its client base, 70 percent is listed among Fortune 500.

Sutherland Global Services, which has offices at Chennai and Mumbai, is starting its first campus in the country at Kochi. The company is expecting a turnover of Rs 1400 crore in 2006 calendar year. This represents over 40 percent growth over the previous year, Vellodi said. Sutherland has 8000 employees in India.

Worldwide, the 20-year-old company has 12,000 employees across 14 delivery locations in USA, Canada, India and Philippines.

The global BPO business is estimated at $500 billion and it is growing at 11 percent. India is expected to grab a significant share of this business, Vellodi said.

He was accompanied by Kerala industry minister Ebrahim Kunju, IT secretary P H Kurien and other senior officials of the company.