TCS close to bagging $1.5b contract

India's leading IT services provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is closer to getting an approximately $1.5 billion (around Rs 6,000 crore) outsourcing contract with the UK-based Prudential Insurance.

If successful, this will the IT major's second biggest win in the insurance space. TCS had earlier bagged a $800 million deal from the UK-based Pearl Group "" considered the single biggest in the Indian financial outsourcing segment. When contacted, a TCS spokesperson declined to comment.

The deal structure is expected to be similar to the Infosys recent announcement of acquiring three global offshore centres from Philips along with getting an outsourcing deal.

Prudential Insurance is one of the leading life and pensions provider in the UK and services over seven million customers.

The company also owns a subsidiary in the US - Jackson National Life - and has over three million policies and contracts in force.

The company has offshore centres in UK, Ireland, Scotland and India.