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KSA Technopak to focus on IT consultancy business
Kumarkaushalam
New Delhi : KSA Technopak (India) Ltd has identified big consultancy opportunities in the arena of IT, retailing and supply chain management for this year. Within a year of its launch, the firm's IT consultancy operations already account for 10 per cent of overall revenues. ``Our key strength is a consumer goods and services implementation focus and strong global connection,'' says Mr Rajan Chhibba, deputy managing director, KSA Technopak. ``This year, we expect the contribution from the strategy and implentation of IT projects to grow to a quarter of our revenues; and the retailing consultanices to account for another quarter this year.''To tap emerging opportunities, KSA Technopak also plans to open two more offices by the end of this year, following the opening of its office in Bangalore in mid-January 2001. Says Mr Chhibba: ``Indian employees will form around eight per cent of the global KSA strength.''In line with its expansion plans, KSA will take the number of employees up to 80 - up from 46 currently - by year-end. The Indian joint venture has already been entrusted with the task of handling consultancy operations in India as well as the neighbouring countries. The firm has recently implemented projects in the Middle East, South Asia, Thailand, and Srilanka.The firm also plans to implent around 50-60 projects in the sphere of retailing in the next 12 to 18 months. In the last four years of retailing operations, the firm has already implemented 150 projects. The organised retailing sector, which is valued currently at Rs 5,500 crore is expected to grow five-fold to Rs 35,000 crore by the year 2005. Thus, its share of the overall retail industry will rise from 0.8 per cent to 5 per cent by 2005. The KSA assessment is that the big-time retailing will move beyond metros to other towns. ``Over 56 per cent of our revenues come from implementing projects,'' says Mr Chhibba. ``While others are more likely to implement IT projects, we do strategy as well as implementation of both the IT and non-IT projects.'' Mr Chhibba says that the KSA will contuinue to focus on securing at least 30 clients a year ``with more than one assignment per client.'' With a sharp focus on verticals like IT, supply chain management, healthcare and consumer and financial products, the KSA Technopak has already got around 70 clients, including ITC, Whirlpool, Raymonds, Bombay Dyeing, Indo Rama, Escorts, Arvind Mills, S Kumar, India Post and Barista. ``We've moved from apparel to retail to a host of areas to have a fair mix of all today,'' says Mr Chhiba. ``The idea is to convey `Anyhing you eat, drink or wear has a touch of KSA Technopak'.'' Earlier, at the third KSA Retail Summit in Delhi, Mr Arvind Singhal, MD, KSA Technopak, saidthat the five categories - food & grocery, health and beauty, entertainment, home improvement and IT, Media & Telecom - were the categories ``to watch tomorrow''. He also said that the retail boom is expected to move away from the saturated Chennai and Hyderabad to hitherto untapped metros like Delhi and Calcutta as well as to industrial cities such as Ambala, Bokaro, Ludhiana and Kanpur. Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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