Next Turn

Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon may have been there, done that on the BPO front, now it appears to be Pune8217;s turn. The latest to join the bandwagon is UK8217;s largest insurer Aviva8212;it is ramping up operations in Delhi and Bangalore and setting up a new centre in Pune at Magarpatta City.

Consider this: there are about 25 BPOs in business already, including the big players msourcE, Spectramind Wipro, WNS; three large ones vCustomer, Convergys, EXL Services set up shop recently; Progeon Infosys too has big plans; and there are 8220;at least two queries8221; from BPOs everyday.

By next year, 10,000 more BPO jobs will be for the taking. In its Top 10 predictions for Asia Pacific in 2004, Gartner, renowned research and advisory firm, says 8220;India continues to be a key beneficiary with global delivery outsourcing becoming mainstream and an 8216;irreversible mega-trend8217;, in both IT services, and, increasingly, BPO.8221;

Which leads us to a pertinent question. Is Pune equipped to handle the BPO boom? Yes, says Gupta, but confesses that it is imperative to create the infrastructure.

8220;We must set up the infrastructure first, then the user is guaranteed. We can8217;t afford to be complacent.8221; He says this with some force because there8217;s been a lot of talk that there are few takers for the software parks already in place, particularly at Talewade.

Industry experts will tell you that a BPO destination must have three things: skilled manpower; quality infrastructure; telecom. As for manpower, there seems to be no dearth of it. 8220;Infosys has set up world-class software development centres in places where there is rich local talent as well as the required infrastructure. Pune has provided us with both of these,8221; says Akshaya Bhargava, MD and CEO, Progeon.

8220;The city offers better broad-based education compared to other cities and the future profile of hiring is going to be broad-based, which means there will be less demand for techno-geeks,8221; agrees Pune-based Partha Iyengar, research vice-president, Gartner.

Though the high rate of attrition is a cause for concern once there is a surfeit of BPO firms, most of the firms are trying to work around it. For instance, Msource is hiring people in the 18-50 age bracket. Almost everyone we spoke to gave a thumbs-up to the quality of life in Pune8212;it has a small-town atmosphere with big city amenities.

Says Bhargava, 8220;The state offers good standards of living, displays a cosmopolitan nature, offers reasonable real estate value and has an active social life, which makes it attractive for prospective employees.8221; The Infosys facility currently offers a capacity for 350 seats. 8220;We shall expand our base,8221; adds Bhargava. 8220;The atmosphere is BPO-conducive, but the attrition rate will be a cause for concern,8221; says Lalit Khanna of MsourcE. Now, for the real negatives8212;industry watchers came up with three: Poor air connectivity; power situation and the fact that Pune is not a state capital. Gupta brushes aside the power problem: 8220;Now, everyone must have back-up power.8221; But even he will admit that the city needs a bigger airport. In the same breath he will tell you that Bangalore seems to be doing fine without an international airport.

As for connectivity, most players said the situation was getting better with the slew of telecom reforms. Says Gupta, 8220;With so many players in the field, we can haul bandwidth from Mumbai at lower prices.8221; While Pune is not a capital city and Maharashtra doesn8217;t have an IT minister like, say, Karnataka, the state government has woken up to its 8220;enabler role8221;.

A pro-active IT policy8212;for instance, those setting up shop here won8217;t have to pay octroi and electricity duty; property tax has been reduced to 14 per cent from 30 per cent8212;should help. Pune8217;s USP, feels Gupta, is its low cost of operations compared to Mumbai, Delhi and even Bangalore. And the fact that when the BPO segment moves up the value chain8212;from the call centre level8212;which is inevitable, Pune will have the advantage because of its prized talent pool.