Macmillan portal for global publishers

Macmillan India Ltd, the publishing house, is investing "upwards of Rs 10 crore" in its wholly-owned subsidiary MPS Technologies Ltd which will help it retain its numero uno status in publishing outsourcing to India.

MPS will offer a wide range of technology-driven services by providing a web hosting platform to leading publishers across the world. The formation of MPS Technologies will help Macmillan tap the new segment of web-hosting where the existing clients could be potential customers.

MPS will be located in the national capital region and is likely to be fully operational before December 2005. The company will employ about 100 people and take about 12-18 months from now to develop the web-hosting platform.

"We are identifying the exact location and are also looking at the talent pool to begin the hiring process. We will employ cutting-edge software developers. Since Macmillan UK has a significant expertise in running a similar operation, it will help MPS set up and run the operations in India," an official source said.

Macmillan India has three divisions "" publishing, data conversion and eMacmillan. The company registered a 24 per cent growth in revenues at Rs 107 crore for the year-ended December 31, compared to the previous year.

Macmillan India is witnessing growth across all its divisions as there is an increasing demand to meet various publishing needs of well-known publishers across the world. For the period January-September 2004, the company has grown by 25 per cent to touch Rs 94 crore, as against the corresponding period of the previous year.

According to sources, "We will first develop a web-hosting platform which can host e-journals. The aim is to provide operational efficiencies to publishers outside. We currently serve about 50 renowned publishers. These include well-known publishers of journals, who could utilise our services to host their journals on the web. The web platform will include e-fulfillment facility where subscription and delivery of journals can happen online."