Intelenet and Sparsh in Orissa?
By Sandhya

Intelenet Global Services describes itself as a leading global third party BPO Company that delivers Business Process Outsourcing services to Fortune 500 companies in India, USA, UK, Australia, Mauritius, Philippines and Poland. Intelenet is backed by Blackstone, a leading Global Private Equity player. Sparsh BPO, with 16,000 employees, is Intelenet’s subsidiary in India.

Both Intelenet and Sparsh are controlled by the same holding company. Sparsh BPO's top management are all Intelenet employees and Sparsh is owned by the same entity which owns Intelenet Global. Susir Kumar who is the CEO of Intelenet is a Director of Sparsh BPO. Sparsh is funded by Intelenet in terms of working capital and bank guarantees (as Sparsh BPO cannot raise funds on its own).

A tipster tells Techgoss that Intelenet/Sparsh BPO seems to be on the prowl for new locations for its delivery centers. Possibly something might come up in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa.
 
According to news from property brokers in Bhubaneshwar, it seems that a flurry of inquiries for large office spaces have come up with a familiar face showing up for most site visits. The brokers also state that the client is seeking a 24/7 approved place.

Additionally, it seems that Intelenet or Sparsh BPO is keen to bring up a center around Kolkata on account of high levels of attrition within Kolkata based rival domestic BPOs.

In all possibilities, the Bhubaneshwar center would cater to Telecom clients as it’s a convenient location for Bengali, Oriya and Hindi speaking customers for Sparsh and Intelenet's clients.

Possibly the center would occupy 20000 to 50000 square feet depending on the number and type of clients at that location.

In today's times, most domestic BPOs try and seek our unexplored cities to set up delivery centers as labour is relatively cheaper, connectivity is not an issue across the nation, and property lease rates are reasonable.

As of now the Bhubaneshwar center has not yet materialised. It most probably would be taken up/leased by Intelenet or by Sparsh considering the present situation where Sparsh BPO's management is buying back its shares for eventual delisting from the Bourses.

As it may appear, with so many centers in its fold, management may turn out to be a higher challenge and especially when lower priced BPOs want to compete for business which Intelenet/Sparsh BPO caters to.

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