TCS sets foot in Bihar, starts BPO centre in Patna

Centre to create employment opportunities for more than 3,000 people in the state capital

Expanding its feet across the country, IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has set up its maidan Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) centre in Patna. The centre was inaugurated on Thursday by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

According to the officials present at the ceremony, the thousand-seater state-of-the-art centre would create employment opportunities for more than 3,000 people in the state capital. Rajesh Gopinathan, chief exceutive officer(CEO) and managing director (MD) of TCS, in his inaugural speech, said that the BPS centre at Patna was a small beginning in the direction of providing IT infrastructure and jobs to the youth of Bihar.

"It would be a robust centre with an aim to create an enabling ecosystem in the region. It would play a critical role in energising the whole region.This project will build talent base to play seed capital to boost digital economic in the region," he said.

"The centre would help create a talent pool for India tomorrow. It would also help attract ancillary units and supporting units to the state." added Gopinathan.

Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was also present on the occasion, said that it was a historic day for Bihar with India's largest IT company's maiden BPS centre becoming operational at Patna.

"It is my dream to take BPO centres to small places to spread the Digital India programme throughout the country," Prasad said. He said that his ministry has allotted 46,000 BPO seats throughout the country under the India BPO Scheme (IBS), under which 4,600 seats have been approved for Bihar. He added that the government wants to leverage IT industry's growth for creating employment opportunities for India's talented youth and drive inclusive growth.

Speaking further, Prasad said: "As the BPO comes to my hometown, the dream of Digital India is being realised. It will give hope to local boys and girls about a bright and better future." The BPO centre at Patna will also help in expansion of the country's IT profile by taking such services to the countryside, he said.

Defending Aadhar and batting for Centre's Digital India programme, the Union Minister said that the country is saving Rs 50,000 crore annually by linking payment to beneficiaries under 84 schemes through Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts.

Reiterating his commitment to bring more IT infrastructure to Bihar, Prasad lamented that the state government was not providing land for the purpose. "There should be no politics in development work," the Union Minister said.