Alstom to strengthen Bangalore R&D centre

Alstom Transport is transforming its engineering facility in Bangalore into a global research and development centre.

The company is part of the Euro 20 billion,Parisbased Alstom,a global leader in transport infrastructure,power generation and electrical grids.

Alstom Transport develops and markets a range of systems,equipment and services for the Indian railway sector,some of which include providing signalling systems for the Delhi and Bangalore metro rail totalling 100 kilometers,building metro rail coaches for the Chennai metro,and designing Linke Holfmann Busch coaches for the Shatabdi and Rajdhani.

Alstom Transports Bangalore engineering team of 300 people is engaged in application and product engineering for the companys signalling projects in Europe and in Asia.This centre will be expanded to include a new team focused on research,engineering,and development of coaches,beginning next fiscal.

Henri Poupart-Lafarge,president,Alstom Transport,who was in Bangalore,said that the company planned to increase the headcount at its Bangalore centre to 550 by the end of fiscal 2014.

We will add another 150 engineers for the signalling part and would grow the coaches division by 100 people a year, said Lafarge.

The Bangalore centre will initially focus on developing various systems and sub systems for coaches,both for the Indian and global markets.Over the next four to five years the company expects the centre to reach a level of competence to design and develop a complete coach.

Lafarge added that the company would also increase the headcount at its manufacturing facility in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh to 200 from 120 at present.

The manufacturing unit,established with an investment of Euro 30 million,will manufacture metro rail coaches for the Chennai metro.

Over the next one-year,bids for a host of rail projects that include expansion of the Delhi and Bangalore metros,and initiation of the Ahmedabad and Cochin metros are expected.

There is huge potential in the rail transportation business in India.The country has a large number of cities growing because of urbanization,which today are not equipped with metro connectivity, said Lafarge.

Filipino cities gain in outsourcing ranking as Bangalore retains top slot

The Philippines, led by its capital Manila and followed by secondary cities such as Cebu, Mandaluyong and Taguig, has emerged as a key IT/ITeS destination, posing a challenge to India's outsourcing story.

The latest annual ranking of the top 100 global outsourcing destinations by Tholons, an advisory firm for global outsourcing and research, places Manila at No. 3, up from No. 4 in last year's survey. It has pushed Delhi down to No. 4. Cebu City too went up one rank in the top 10, pushing Dublin (Ireland) down. Indian dominance continues though, with six Indian cities in the top 10 and Bangalore still the No. 1.

The critical factors that are adding momentum to Philippines are its cultural and accent similarities with the US, cost competitiveness, and a strong positive perception of BPO careers (they are not stop-gap careers like in India). The Philippines government is also keeping its focus firm on the development of the industry through grants and infrastructure developments.

Salil Dani, practice director at outsourcing advisory and research firm Everest Group, said the Philippines is cheaper by up to 70% for US companies. "The country is the leader in voice (call centres). But its non-voice story is still untold. A lot of Indian and global BPOs in the financial, analytical, HR and people-based services are expanding in the country. The Philippines' current IT/ITeS market is $14 billion, of which IT is only $2 billion. But remember, a few years ago the total market was barely $7 billion. Look at the way it's catching up," said Dani. Ankita Vashistha, managing director, Tholons, said costs are rising in India. "Infrastructure and quality of life are also under pressure in Indian cities and these could impact growth in the future," she said.

Convergys, a US-based customer management solutions company, has 18 call centres in the Philippines. UnitedHealth, a US-based healthcare provider, has back-office operations in Taguig City. EXL is opening its third centre in Cebu City. IBM is planning to grow its BPO services in the country, focusing on higher value analytics and high-value customer support services. Wells Fargo & Co is setting up a business support centre in Taguig City to provide customer service and back office services. JP Morgan Chase has recently expanded in Manila by establishing a 1,000-employee facility.

Sanjay Dhawan, executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said local government had created a lot of momentum. "More and more corporations are keen to expand to the country as no one wants to put all their eggs in the same (India) basket."

Pradeep Udhas, executive director at KPMG, said the Philippines had learned lessons from India in terms of best practices, talent management and handling taxation challenges. Som Mittal, president of Indian IT/ITeS industry body Nasscom, dismissed concerns that India had reasons to worry: "Our own companies are expanding to the region. Outsourcing is a global play. So it's less about competition and more about partnership."

Malaysian cities have also moved up in Tholons listing, as have Latin American cities. Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, has moved up six places to No. 37, Bogota, capital of Colombia, has moved up six places to No. 49, and Medellin, Colombia's second largest city, has moved up seven places to No. 53. This indicates a sense of urgency in Latin American countries to explore new industries like outsourcing, said the Tholons report.

FireEye to set up R&D facility in Bangalore

California-based cyber security firm FireEye plans to invest $50 million over the next 4-5 years

California-based cyber security firm FireEye plans to invest $50 million over the next 4-5 years in setting up an R&D facility at Bangalore for developing internet security products.

The India center would hire around 250 people, said Ashar Aziz, founder and CTO, FireEye.

The company also announced appointment of Sridhar Jayanthi as the Vice President (R&D) and Managing Director, India operations.

Prior to joining FireEye, Jayanthi was McAfee’s managing director and senior vice president (engineering). The FireEye platform has 1000-odd customer, spread over 40 countries, Aziz said.

Founded in 2004, key investors in FireEye include Norwest Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Juniper Networks.

Buffet company, FlightSafety comes to India

FlightSafety International, one of the world’s leading aviation training companies and promoted by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has established operations in India through a consultancy and licensing agreement with Bangalore-based Aviators India.

The 60-year-old New Yorkheadquartered aviation company delivers over a million hours of flight training each year to pilots, technicians, cabin attendants, and aviation professionals, and is a supplier of flight simulators, visual systems and displays to commercial, government and military organizations around the world.

FlightSafety’s India play would start in the next four months and would begin with cabin attendant training for commercial and corporate flight operators.

“Put together (both commercial and corporate operators) there would be over 10,000 flight attendants in India. And given the number of aircraft orders airlines have placed, this vertical could well see a growth of 100% over the next five to seven years,” said Captain Arun Sharma, MD, Aviators India.

Aviators India has been in the business of aircraft charter services and sales of corporate jets to Indian high net worth individuals for close to two decades.

Cessna-maker Textron plans some production in India

Textron, the maker of Bell helicopters and Cessna aircraft, said it would add 300 to 400 people to its engineering centre in Bangalore over the next one year. The centre currently has about 500 engineers.

Inderjit Sal, MD of Textron India, said the centre works on new products for almost the entire range of areas that the $11-billion Textron is in, including helicopters, aircraft, surface vessels and industrial segments. He said he could not provide details of the work for confidentiality reasons.

The US company has offset obligations in India, thanks to the $257-million order it won from the Indian Air Force in 2010 for sensor-fused weapons (computer controlled and radar equipped submunitions that hunt for tanks or armoured vehicles below and destroy them). Under offset obligations, vendors are obliged to procure materials and services from within India equivalent to 30% to 50% of the contract value. In the Textron order, the offset obligation is 30%.

The sourcing from the Bangalore centre will help towards partly meeting the offset obligation. The company is also looking to co-produce components in India. Ellen M Lord, CEO of Textron Systems, said the company had identified specific projects to undertake in India. “We are in the process of identifying partners, which we hope to complete in about a year,” she said. Textron is also bidding for the naval

utility helicopter deal of the Indian Navy.

The Navy plans to procure 56 helicopters, and Textron is offering two versions of Bell helicopters, which are being showcased at the aero show in Bangalore. Sal said private operators, the oil & gas sector, the medical sector and the paramilitary are also potential buyers of helicopters. Bell is estimated to have the highest market share in the Indian helicopter market. All of that is in the civilian sector now.

The company is also showcasing unmanned aircraft systems, command and control technologies, and precision smart air-delivered and ground-delivered weapons at the show. “India is ready to absorb these technologies, which is why we have such a big presence at the aero show,” Sal said.

HAL-Rolls-Royce production facility opened

The Rs 135-crore International Aerospace Manufacturing (IAMPL) production facility, a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Rolls-Royce, was inaugurated here today. 

The unit, to have an employee strength of about 100, incorporates the latest Rolls-Royce manufacturing techniques for making 130 different compressor parts. 

Incorporated in July 2010, IAMPL is a 50:50 joint venture company (JVC) of HAL and Rolls-Royce (the UK). The JVC is will have about 225 vendors initially. 

The facility, inaugurated by Managing Director, HAL (Bangalore Complex) K Naresh Babu, will include latest machine tools, computerised maintenance management systems, metal spray booths and non-destructive testing lines, it was stated. 

"The production facility incorporates the latest Rolls- Royce manufacturing techniques and will create job opportunities for highly skilled technicians and engineers in India," said Babu. 

The facility will begin manufacturing production components later this year. 

HAL Chairman R K Tyagi pointed out that HAL and Rolls- Royce have been strategic partners for long. 

"This is a step towards indigenous production activities in the crucial aero-sector. The state-of-the-art facility in Bangalore will produce components for the technologically advanced Trent family of civil aero engines, as well as for a number of marine and energy gas turbines," he said. 

HAL started producing the Orpheus engine under licence followed by maintenance of the Gnome engine and the 501 K industrial gas turbine. HAL is the production agency of Rolls-Royce's Adour 804/811 engine for the Jaguar aircraft of IAF since 1981. HAL is now manufacturing the Adour MK 871 for the new Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers