According to CSS vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Greater China Rustom Kanga, the centre in India would essentially be a software development centre that would serve as the global hub for the group.

Kanga, who also looks after Compaq's telecommunication business in the region, said it was a little premature to discuss investment figures or the location of the centre but indicated that Bangalore would be a strong option, logistically and logically.

CSS, which recently deployed Singapore's smart-card network with Visa and NETS, is in talks with Indian banks, telecom companies and utilities to explore business opportunities. Singapore's `demo' smart-card operation was kicked off earlier this month and CSS hopes to leverage this towards setting up a global network.

"We're basically looking at anyone who takes money off you," Kanga quipped while side-stepping a question on specific entities CSS was talking to. He, however, added that discussions were on with Coca-Cola to enable their vending machines to accept smart-card payments.

He said the arrangement with Visa was not exclusive but the plastic money major had put forth standards that were acceptable to the majority of players in the smart-card arena. Called the Common Electronic Purse Specifications (CEPS), Visa's model was "a sort of open standards", Kanga said. Apart from CEPS, Visa had brought its brand value while CSS had put together the entire network, he added.

CSS, which is looking at $150 million in revenues (up 45 per cent from last year), is also eyeing the defence sector for its integrated logistics management systems and highly secure systems. "We will go with systems integrators who are already working on defence projects," Kanga said. CSS systems have been deployed by defence forces in several countries.

Among the technologies available with the division is its `over-the-horizon' radar system that works on reflected signals to give an operator a bird's eye view of the target that would elude conventional systems. The system was developed in association with Lockheed Martin.

Apart from e-business, CSS is also actively working on m-business (mobile business) solutions.