Top software firms are eyeing projects worth Rs 10,000 crore from the domestic banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector this year as the latter initiates measures to bring those outside the banking network into its fold.
The immediate projects from BFSI sector include those relating to mobile banking and banks’ plan to integrate regional rural banks (RRBs) and branches.
“We are looking at shifting the cash-based transactions to electronic-based ones. Projects worth Rs 8,000 crore may go to the private software companies this year,” S R Rao, additional secretary-IT in the Union ministry of communications and IT, said at the CII Banking Tech Summit.
Rao said the ministry is working on different technological options through which banking could be made easier through mobile phones.
Besides mobile banking, many large public sector banks are looking to integrate RRBs into their core banking system — a major software application that integrates various banking processes. Central Bank of India, for instance, is looking to integrate about 1,800 RRBs in its system.
“There are about 15,000 RRBs and an equal number of co-operative bank branches that are slated to be integrated with the core banking systems of the various large public sector banks. This can easily spell Rs 2,500-3,000 crore opportunity for IT firms in the next 12 to 24 months,” said an executive of a top IT services firm in India. Most top IT firms including TCS, Infosys and Wipro have already started bagging projects from mobile banking as well as RRB initiatives.
“We are already working for SBI’s various technological initiatives. We are also looking at projects from various other banks,” G Raghavan, country head, India business for TCS, said.
Wipro Infotech, which recently won a Rs 100 crore, 10-year IT outsourcing contract from Punjab and Sindh Bank, is eyeing a chunk of the emerging projects from banks. “The RRB opportunity is a large one. We have just closed a deal with a major public sector bank and more are in the offing,” Anand Sankaran, senior vice-president and business head, India and Middle East at Wipro Infotech, said.
Comments