Indian IT firms ramping up efforts to establish themselves in China

INDIAN INFORMATION technology (IT) companies have reportedly ramped up efforts to win the confidence of more Chinese companies in a bid to consolidate their foothold.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), India's largest IT services company by sales, is leading the effort to expand the presence of the Indian IT industry in China - although cracking the Chinese market may not be an easy job.

"Chinese companies are still used to the traditional global brands. They have not yet seen us. So it is also a question of brand-building for us," Girija P. Pande, head of the Asia-Pacific region of TCS, told the China Daily. India exported 50 billion dollars in IT services to China in 2009 and industry analysts expect the number to exceed 100 billion dollars annually in the next five years.

In recent years, TCS has emerged as the largest Indian software business company servicing large Chinese State-run companies. Four major Chinese banks including Bank of China and Hua Xia Bank have been clients of TCS' core banking system. "I think we have to get more Chinese large companies to see our capability," Pande said. 

TCS currently hires more than 170,000 people in 40 countries around the world, but it only has 1,200 people in China. Pande said the company plans to increase its workforce in China to 5,000 people in the next three years. Wipro Technologies Ltd, a leading Indian software company, is also following TCS' step in expanding into the growing markets.
"China has become our preferred delivery center for our Japanese customers. We want to build our biggest research and development center in Asia in the city of Chengdu," said Gangadharaiah C.P., vice-president and global head of Wipro Technologies’’ testing services.

Rajan Kohli, Wipro's chief marketing officer, said that the company plans to reduce reliance on the mature markets in the US and Europe as demand in emerging markets such as China is booming. According to a survey by accountancy firm KPMG, China's total outsourcing market will grow to 43.9 billion dollars by 2014, more than double its 20 billion dollars in 2009.