A host of leading business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, apprehensive of an erosion in revenues owing to a slowdown in the US and Europe, are heading back to the country to tap opportunities in the domestic market.

The list of BPOs looking for business in India include the likes of Infosys BPO, Genpact and FirstSource and HTMT.

According to industry experts, these companies are now learning to ?walk on two legs?. So far, they were focussing only on overseas pastures, ignoring domestic opportunities. According to industry estimates, currently the domestic market contributes less than 10% of the total revenues of organised players. But according to Nasscom, the domestic market would gross a revenue of $6 billion by 2012.

?The global financial crisis would lead to a complete change in the business model of outsourcing firms, including BPOs. So far, the lion?s share of their revenue was coming from the west, predominantly North America. This is all set to change with the financial meltdown and a definite cut back in the IT and outsourcing spend by the big and small firms alike in these geographies. The only way out of the impasse is to look for revenues from other geographies including the domestic market,? said a leading analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage firm who did not wish to be named. The Hindujas promoted HTMT Global Solutions Ltd is one of the early birds to tap the domestic voice-and non-voice BPO solutions markets and has leading telecom provider AirTel as its client since 2005.

The company, which is sitting on a pile of cash, is reportedly looking for possible acquisitions in both the domestic and overseas space to spruce up its valuation ratios. Domestic revenue accounts for close to 19% of the total revenue of the company, according to research firm PINC.

ValueNotes, an agency tracking the developments in the outsourcing space, has said that at least five leading BPOs have already set their plans afoot to tap the potential opportunities in the domestic space.

For instance, Genpact, is planning to enter the domestic BPO space by acquiring small and niche BPO players with substantial revenue coming from domestic market. Infosys BPO is understood to be eyeing big contracts from the state and central governments besides targeting domestic companies with a global footprint.

EXL Service is planning to enhance its offerings to its global clients who have a presence in the Indian market while FirstSource has made a mark in the domestic space by signing in Vodafone as its first client. Convergys has already bagged a sizable order from public sector telecom giant BSNL for providing back office services.

Industry insiders say many other BPO firms are also planning to follow the new business models which gives equal importance to domestic as well as overseas markets.

According to industry estimates, the largest market for BPOs currently is North America, which accounts for 62% of revenues, followed by the UK (18%) and the rest of Europe (12%).

The remaining revenues come from the Asia-Pacific (6%) and other regions (2%).