Big IT firms vie for share of $1 Billion bank, power deals

By siliconindia   |    1 Comments
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New Delhi: As India's regional rural banks (RRB) and state-owned power sector firms seek to modernize their business and technology systems, the country's tech firms including TCS, HCL, Wipro and Infosys are seen pursuing projects worth almost $1 billion over next 12 months. While over 91 RRBs plan to spend nearly 2,000 crore on tech upgradation including procurement of a core banking software, different state governments are set to spend around 2,000 crore as part of the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) initiative. Indian states of Chattisgarh, HP, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand are preparing tender proposals for contracts worth 300 crore each as part of the power sector reforms, reports Economic Times. "We are eyeing a 25 percent market share in the RRB IT implementation in the next 12 months. Domestic IT contracts present an opportunity worth over $1 billion over next six months. For RRBs, we have entered into a partnership with SBI for IT implementation for its 900 out of the 15,000 RRBs, in the first phase," said G Srinivas Raghavan, Country Head for India Business at TCS. "We have also entered into a partnership with Punjab National Bank and Indian Bank for IT implementation for their RRBs," he added. The rural banks need to upgrade and integrate around 14,816 branches in order to become more efficient. According to experts tracking these reforms, TCS has already emerged as the lowest bidder in three states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for APDRP contracts worth over 750 crore. Meanwhile, rival IBM has also shifted its focus to the rural banks. Recently, IBM won a deal from the Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) to enhance the banks IT infrastructure across 530 rural branches. IBM also signed a 10-year outsourcing agreement with Kurmanchal Nagar Sahakari Bank, in Uttarakhand, this year. Wipro is not far behind. The company has recently won RRB implementation projects from large public sector bank. "We have also bagged the State datacentre projects from Gujarat and Rajasthan, worth 30 crore each. Government sales are a big focus for Wipro now," says Ranbir Singh, Wipro's government vertical head. HCL on the other hand has won APDRP IT implementation for Rajasthan. "We will deploy our remote metering and billing solutions and revamp the power distribution systems in state power corporations, thus minimizing outages for the consumer," Raghavan added.