Thiruvananthapuram: The city-based software unit IVL India is planning to start a marketing office in the UK as it foresees a major business potential there. This is part of our strategy to target large customers for offshore projects, says IVL India managing director Sunil Gupta.

The six-year-old company is offering solutions around SAP and e-business applications for corporates. Initially floated to execute projects bagged by IVL Germany, IVL India has, over the years, expanded its operational area. In 1998 we made our own SAP-based products for excise and foreign trade managements and insurance activities applicable for large companies, Gupta says.

Gupta says IVL India has been executing a lot of projects for Indian companies like Siemens, Asian Paints, Parrys, Saint Gobain, GEC Alsthom, Ranbaxy and others. We also train hands on SAP. Sixty per cent of last years Rs 12-crore turnover came from domestic operations.

Functioning from Technopark, IVL India has now 150 employees and has two software development centers - a total of 18,000 sq ft there. Around Rs 6 crore has gone into the venture till date. Speaking about the companys billing rates, Gupta says the company operates on a time, material and on a fixed cost basis. Our domestic monthly billing is between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh per month/per person and overseas it is $70 per hour, he says.