Sunrise Logistics president Sunandan Ray said he will provide company-specific Y2K solutions. The focus will be on Cobol-based packages.

The company is seeking strategic alliances with software companies for studying the impact of the Y2K problem for their clients. The company has already tied up with Microfocus for procuring Cobol-based tools. Sunrise has lined up alliances in Europe.

In the sixties and seventies, when computer memories were very expensive, programmers used only the last two digits of a year in all date records.

Because of the code now embedded in thousands of programmes worldwide, computers will read the year 2000 as "00" and play havoc with interestcalculations and go "on strike".

Sunrise Logistics has a paid-up equity capital of Rs 1.2 crore and is aiming for a business of Rs 8 crore in the first 12 months of operation. It is expected to go up to Rs 20 crore later, Ray said. According to a company press release, the business of providing solution to the Y2K problem is worth $650 billion.

Another thrust area for the company is the problem faced by mainly European companies and industries on the issue of a single European currency.

Air Link India Ltd is the flagship company of the group. A company press release claimed that it is the second largest operator in the field of freight forwarding with a registered turnover of Rs 96 crore in 1996-97.

The level of awareness of the Y2K problem is low in India, director Arabinda Ray of Sunrise Worldwide said. The company was formed six years ago and was then named Sunrise Credit & Investment Ltd, with interests in investment and real estate. The company's shift to the software segment, was a couple yearsago.