Shimoga, Karnataka, July 12, 2012 – Two years after it scouted out possible locations in the interior of Karnataka state, UK-based business process and technology services provider, Xchanging, opened today a 1000-seat global delivery centre in a newly created special economic zone in Shimoga, yesterday.
This makes Xchanging one of the first global IT players to tap the opportunity, beyond the Usual Suspects among Indian cities – Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon.. – to locate in a tier-3 location, in the hinterland.
Xchanging was a part of the business delegation to India led by British Prime Minister, David Cameron in 2010. During the tour, Xchanging signed an agreement with Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS), to lease and jointly develop the centre on six acres of land in the then-developing SEZ in Shimoga. The centre is expected to set an example for zero energy building constructions in India with its energy efficient design that takes advantage of natural ventilation and lighting.
The centre was inaugurated July 11, in the presence of Ian Felton, the British Deputy High Commissioner , based in Bangalore, Dr. Syed Bari, Vice Chancellor of Kuvempu , Ken Lever, CEO, Xchanging and Nimish Soni, Executive Director Offshore, APAC, Xchanging.
Said Ian Felton: “The UK’s ambition is to be India's partner of choice. The successful completion of this project in Karnataka follows the signing of an MOU during the visit to Bangalore of British Prime Minister David Cameron in June 2010. The UK and India are among the top investors in each other’s economies bringing significant long-term benefits to both. The UK has the ambition to look beyond Bangalore and into tier 2 and 3 cities like Shimoga where both countries can benefit from collaboration and achieve excellence, for example, through setting up world-class facilities such as Xchanging and creating an impact by enriching the economy and lives of the region as well as in the UK.”
Added Ken Lever: “Today, with the centre and state governments creating favorable platforms and policies, tier-2 and 3 cities look well poised to continue growing as the sought-after destinations for the IT/ ITES industry. We are looking at expanding our base in Shimoga to enable us to leverage lower cost inflation and attrition. At the same time, we can tap into the local talent pool and developing infrastructure in building a stable and productive delivery centre with the competence to serve globally.” Since its foray into Shimoga in 2008, is working closely with leading universities and education institutes in the region to increase the employability of students and make them industry-ready. Xchanging has plans to introduce certificate programme in BPO operations and software development in collaboration with Kuvempu University from this academic year.
Xchanging employs about 7500 employees across its offices in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, out of which nearly 3,500 are based in India. It has three of its top ten global processing hubs in Bangalore, Gurgaon and Chennai, and in the year 2010 it added a state-of-the-art processing centre in Solan, a tier-3 city located in Himachal Pradesh. The company set foot in India in the year 2001 and since then has continued to develop its operations in the country.