News Update -I.T/ ITES/ BFSI Sector

March 2, 2012: HCL INFOSYSTEMS WINS AADHAAR CONTRACT OF RS 2,200 CRORE FROM UIDAI

The Aadhaar number repository and its IT infrastructure will be run by HCL Infosystems, which has beaten TCS to win a 2,200-crore contract from the Unique ID Authority of India.

According to government sources, TCS bid about 6,500 Crore for the contract while Mahindra Satyam backed out from bidding in the final round.

UIDAI's biometrics service provider Accenture, which handles the current Aadhaar de-duplication mandate, was technically disqualified along with Wipro. 

March 1, 2012: INFOSYS BPO LEADS THE WAY IN NON-LINEAR TRACK; SET TO DOUBLE REVENUE FROM 5 YEARS AGO

This financial year, the business process outsourcing arm of Infosys will take a big lead on the non-linear growth track, an asp rational growth model for most information technology and BPO firms.

By March 31, Infosys BPO would have doubled its revenue from five years ago to almost $500 million (2,500 Crore) while its employee base has grown only by around 20%. 

In comparison, pure-play BPOs like Genpact and EXL or the BPO arm of Wipro have all grown headcount at the same pace or even faster than their revenue growth. The only exception is WNS, which grew headcount by 20% to grow revenues by 34%.

February 29,2012: BANKS SEEK CLARITY IN CLASSIFICATION OF RESTRUCTURED LOANS

Top bankers sought more clarity from the Reserve Bank about classification of stressed accounts and demanded that they be allowed to mark a restructured account as standard one if it adheres to the revised payment schedule for a year. 

"Today, there is a lot of mystery about what is a restructured asset. Everything restructured is seen as equivalent to NPA (non-performing asset)...the restructuring definition should have a timeline," State Bank Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters outside the RBI headquarters after a two-hour-long meeting with the RBI officials. 

February 28,2012:STATE BANK OF INDIA DROPS EDUCATIONAL LOAN RATES

 State Bank of India (SBI) has lowered interest rates on education loans by 25-100 basis points, a move aimed at attracting students to bank with the country's largest lender at an early age. 

Following the rate cut, SBI's interest rate on big-ticket education loans - above Rs 4 lakh - will be the cheapest among its peers. 

February 27,2012:IT INDUSTRY SHOULD BE BULLISH ABOUT GROWTH: PARTHA IYENGAR, GARTNER'S TOP ANALYST

Technology analyst firm Gartner's top researcher in India sees strong demand for IT services from the country in 2012, but warned that less than bullish comments from service providers, brokerages and Nasscom could contribute to the overall sentimental weakness and eventually prove counter-productive for growth. 

Gartner's top analyst in the country, Partha Iyengar, said the gap between what it expects and what the industry is projecting has only widened with Nasscom's lower growth estimates for software exports in the coming fiscal.

As compared to a 16% plus growth software exports are likely to clock in FY12, Nasscom, India's apex software industry body, has projected only 11%-14% growth in FY13. Iyengar said he was puzzled by the widening gap between the two.