The Hindu Business Line : Patni eyes deals in Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh

IT solutions company Patni Computer Systems is looking at bagging IT contracts in Bangaldesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka in addition to India as part of its strategy to increase revenues from the South-Asia region.

The company, with ‘less than a handful of customers’ in the three neighbouring countries, wants to associate itself with various World Bank-funded projects there, Mr Deepak Khosla, President, SAARC, told Business Line, on the sidelines of a function here on Friday.

Patni operates through a model of partners and agents in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka since the size and scale of opportunities are limited. Analysts, however, estimate that the market for IT services in these countries is maturing fast, especially in e-governance and education.

In the next three years, the Mumbai-based company expects the SAARC region to account for about six per cent of overall revenues from under one per cent now, with India contributing a lion’s share. “In India, we see opportunities in systems integration and IT infrastructure related deals in banking and financial services, government projects and telecom,” said Mr Khosla.

Patni recently reorganised its business into four geographical locations: Europe, the US, Asia-Pacific and the SAARC region (comprising India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka).

By 2012, the company expects the Asia-Pacific region to contribute around 10 per cent of global revenues, twice the present level.

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