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K'taka to emerge as top destination for BPO industry
Thursday, 10 June 2004, 19:30 IST
BANGALORE: Karnataka is all set to emerge as the top business process outsourcing (BPO) destination in India by 2006, said Nasscom, the National Association of Software and Service Companies, Wednesday.
Karnataka was ranked among the seven leading states for its human resource capabilities in a survey conducted by Nasscom and global management consultancy major KPMG.
The state has also been found to be attractive on all parameters of an ideal ITES-BPO destination.
The study on "Choosing a location for offshore operations in India," released on the inaugural day of the sixth annual ITES-BPO Strategy Summit here, identifies 13 clusters across 10 states that account for 85 percent of IT exports.
"The objective of the study is two-pronged," said Kiran Karnik, president of Nasscom, India's IT industry umbrella group.
"One is to have complete information on the prospective location for potential investors or customers and help the industry as well as the local government assess the strengths to emerge as a favourite destination."
The parameters considered for the study range from human resources, average salary for ITES-BPO workforce and attrition rate, infrastructure, industry focus to presence of support group and geographic location.
"In so far as Karnataka is concerned, the outlook is positive though the government and the industry need to address infrastructure and human resource challenges," said Karnik.
According to the study, Karnataka, especially Bangalore, scores over other states on account of 80 global firms setting up their research and development centres in the state and the high level of technical skills.
For instance, the state's educational institutions produce around 28 percent of the country's IT professionals.
The setting up of the Board for IT Education Standards (BITES) with B-SAT tests has led to a greater focus and dissemination of IT and ITES-BPO education in the state.
The Bangalore-based ITES-BPO sector, with strong presence in financial services, tech support and insurance claims processing, has been able to leverage the high-tech city's value-added outsourcing activity.
"With more and more captive and third party service providers moving their high-end support services to Karnataka, the state is expected to emerge as a leading BPO center by 2006," Karnik claimed.
Nasscom has urged the newly elected Karnataka government to focus on massive infrastructure development in Bangalore and other cities across the state.
"The current infrastructure in Bangalore is unable to cope with the rapid growth of the ITES/BPO sector," said the study.
"There is an urgent need to develop and expand roads, highways, mass-transit systems, water, housing, upgrading the existing airport and greater international connectivity."
Source: IANS
Source: IANS
