Calcutta, Dec. 16: Standard Chartered, the oldest foreign bank in the country, is looking at Bengal to expand its operations. The bank is toying with the idea of setting up a business process outsourcing centre in Calcutta.
Jaspal S. Bindra, general manager, South East and South Asia of the bank told The Telegraph, “Our BPO centre in Chennai employs 5,000 people. We will increase the headcount there by another 1,000. Within next 15-18 months we will appoint a consultant to find out a location where we can set up a second BPO unit. Calcutta is definitely on our radar because it has skilled people and the cost is also much lower here.”
Earlier the bank had hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to identify the location for a BPO unit. They had zeroed in on Chennai.
Only last month HSBC, another London-based bank had set up a BPO centre with 3,000 seats in Calcutta. ICICI Bank ? the country’s largest private sector bank ? has already firmed up plans to set up a knowledge hub in the city.
However, Stanchart’s renewed interest in Bengal spills over to Haldia. “The entire Haldia belt is quite important to us,” Bindra said. The bank is talking to Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) to cement ties with them. “We are not worried about the promoters problem. The company is performing extremely well and is a good investment option for us,” he added.
The bank is in talks with HPL for providing working capital, term loans, project financing as well as corporate advisory services. The HPL board has already taken a decision to expand its capacity and Stanchart wants to tap on that opportunity.
Stanchart is a banker to Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, which has a unit in Haldia and is planning to set up a second unit. The bank is keen to finance the company’s second venture here.
It is also in talks with Exide for providing finance and advisory services.
The bank is also planning to open more branches in the eastern region. “We will open one or two branches in Calcutta. We are also looking at the hinterland areas like Siliguri, Durgapur and others. These centres are emerging as small pockets of industrial growth. Stanchart, which has nearly Rs 2,000 crore exposure in the small and medium enterprises sector, is considering higher exposure in the sector,” Bindra said.
