Infy bags eBiz project from govt

Six-year deal will make IT firm a stronger player in e-governance sector. Infosys Technologies, India’s second largest software firm, has bagged the prestigious eBiz project of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DPIP) under the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry. Highly-placed sources said Infosys has won the six-year contract, following a competitive bidding process that saw participation by TCS, HCL and Wipro, among others. On being asked, Binod H R, Head of India Business for Infosys Technologies, said: “The project is still not signed and the information is not publicly available. Only after the contract is signed, will we be able to give all information.” It is understood that after the technical bids for the project were opened in December 2008, Infosys was shortlisted for the project, as were TCS and HCL. However, both TCS and HCL were disqualified in the final round, as they could not meet certain specific criteria, paving the way for Infosys, which is trying to play a bigger role in the domestic market for e-governance. Presently, TCS is the biggest player in the e-governance sector in India, deriving a little less than 10 per cent of its total revenue from here. It is understood that as a part of the project, Infosys would develop an eBiz portal which will work as a one-stop shop to provide efficient services to investors, businesses and industries. Among others, the portal will facilitate in registration, filing of forms, returns, payments, request for permissions’ approvals, licences, seeking information and records and tracking of services provided by the projects. The entire process in which applicants have to get their requests (applications) processed through various departments physically will now be done through this portal, for a fee. For example, if a company is looking for a pollution certificate, instead of approaching the various departments involved -- environment, forest, commerce or industry, etc -- it would apply online through the eBiz portal. which will process the request, connecting all the stakeholders involved in the back-end, thus providing hassle-free service. It is understood that while the project does not promise a fixed return to the vendor (Infosys), for every transaction done using the portal, a certain amount will go to the company. Already five state governments – Delhi, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have agreed to participate. Infosys was not so active in the domestic market until last year, when it announced the formation of a separate business unit to focus on only the domestic market. So far, it has signed just one e-governance deal, a multi-year contract from the income tax department for establishing back office hubs across four states. In the private sector, the company has about six customers, including Pune-based Thermax. India contributes around 1.3 per cent of Infosys’ total revenues. The larger part of Infosys’ revenue in India comes from its banking product, Finacle.