41. BIRLASOFT: Back on Track

This Delhi-based CK Birla Group company further reduced its exposure in the
domestic market last fiscal with 99.7% of revenues coming from software services
export. Interestingly, in a year when most companies were reducing their
exposure to the US market, Birlasoft actually increased its revenues from there–from
90% to 94.8%. Europe accounted for a little over 4.5%. The company grew by
nearly 66%–from Rs 166 crore in 1999-00 to Rs 276 crore in 2000-01. The
above-industry growth rate was crucial in the wake of a bad patch in 1999-00,
when the company grew by just under 20%.

In
November last year, the company announced the setting up of a global
development center in Noida, housing 500 professionals, for
developing software solutions for General Electric, whose subsidiary
GE Equity owns 20% of Birlasoft’s equity. Birlasoft also entered
into partnerships with BEA, and iPlanet, the Sun-Netscape alliance.
A big catch of the year was an order from the MEA to computerize
Indian consulates in New York and Dubai, to be followed by 38 others
around the globe.