Mahindra-BT to open centre in Bangalore

Mahindra British Telecom (MBT), a joint venture between leading auto major Mahindra & Mahindra and British Telecom, will be opening a new development centre at Bangalore soon.

Addressing a press briefing in Pune, Mr. Kiran Deshpande, MBT's chief executive officer, said that it had become imperative for the company to open a centre at Bangalore in view of its planned initial public offer (IPO) to establish its brand in the marketplace. "Bangalore is the first destination for worldwide organisations looking for software capabilities and all major companies have a facility there", he said.

The new centre, the site for which is yet to be finalised, will be put up with an initial investment of Rs 8.5 crores and will be spread over 20,000 square feet in the first phase, housing about 200 employees. "Besides this, it will grow step-by-step in line with demand, like the company's other centres", Mr. Deshpande said.

This will be the company's third development centre in the country after Mumbai and Pune and fourth in the world, with one at London. It is expected to get operational in three to five months.

"Investment in a new centre is made on the basis its optimal resource for the company," explains Mr. Shantanu Rudra, company's new chief financial officer. "A sizeable chunk of the software talent we have at our Mumbai, London and Pune centres comes from Bangalore", he says.

Describing the way in which average Indian software professional looks at his career, Mr. Deshpande said, "At first, he/she wants to work on a project, wherever it is. The next step is to go overseas. Those who come back, want to return, to the same place. Some of them get married. And then, they look for a job closer to home. So, by establishing centres at key locations in the country, it helps us to retain talent."

Novel way to attract and retain talent, isn't it?