Computer Associates In Park Pact With Tcg

The New York-based $4-billion software firm, Computer Associates International (CA), yesterday entered into a joint venture with the Purnendu Chatterjee-promoted The Chatterjee Group (TCG) to set up a $5 million software technology centre at Salt Lake in Calcutta to provide software development and support services. The deal was signed in the presence of the chief minister Jyoti Basu.

CA will have 51 per cent stake in the joint venture with TCG Software Services holding the remaining equity.

The centre, Computer Associates TCG Software Services Centre (CATS), is part of CA's $100 million investment plan in the country over the next five years. "We will infuse substantial funds as and when the project takes off," said CA president and chief operating officer, Sanjay Kumar.

 

"India is the second largest and fastest growing information technology market in the world and the city is ideal to meet our fundamental requirements," Kumar said. He hoped to get the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance for the subsidiary sometime next week.

"This project will spur the 'digital age' in Bengal which is set to draw more IT firms in the days to come," TCG managing director, Purnendu Chatterjee, said. CATS, which will initially employ 200 software personnel and increase it to 300 next year, will roll out its first branded product in six months. Currently, the company has 12 software projects in hand. "We hope to post a $200 million turnover by the turn of the century from our Indian operations," Kumar said.

CA has a workforce of more than 11,000 and direct operations in 42 countries. It has a plus 170,000 client base. Computer Associates develops, licences and supports more than 500 integrated products that include enterprise computing and information management, application development, manufacturing and financial applications.

"The broad plan of CATS is to stick to these core areas and bring in international clients who seek value-added customised solutions. These requirements will be met by CATS," Kumar said.

Computer Associates will soon roll out its 'incubator programme' which aims at developing entrepreneurship by encouraging software companies to take up projects around CATS core areas of operations. CA will also serve as a distribution channel for such products. It will later focus on object oriented data work in the country. Addressing a IT symposium, Beyond2000, Kumar said the Indian software industry was currently poised at a point where the very nature of the industry is 'little risk, little reward'.

India must strive for 'high risk, high reward' areas like component manufacturing and developing and promoting complete product-cycle.