Mumbai, June 7 :
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today said it was waiting for the right time to launch its initial public offering even as it unveiled a growth plan that envisages a turnover of Rs 3,200 crore. Much of these gains are expected to come from e-business, an area that has been identified by the software consultancy major as the engine of future growth.
'Finding the right value of TCS' shares would be important to pursue our growth strategy through acquisitions, to supplement organic growth, and to raise funds. But, we do not find the need in both contexts now,' company CEO S Ramadorai said. Hints that open offer could be made in future assumes significance given that TCS is a closely held company with the bulk of its stake controlled by Tata Sons - the holding company for the Tata group of companies.
Announcing the e-business strategy, Ramadorai said the segment will be a major revenue-spinner for the company in by 2001, and is expected to contribute 25 per cent to the turnover. For the year ended March 2000, it accounted for about 10 per cent of TCS' revenues of Rs 2100 crore. The company's optimism, say officials, is grounded in heady projections which put the size of the global e-commerce market at $ 3.2 billion in 2003.
The TCS CEO said his company has identified end-to-end e-business solutions for global clients as one of the mainstays. The company intends to deliver a wide array of e-business products. These will cover implementation to maintenance and outsourcing, apart from e-commerce, customer relationship management, supply chain management and knowledge management. 'TCS aims to be among the global top 10 consulting firms in the near future,' Ramadorai said.
Officials say one of the areas where the company wants to be a key player is the application service provider segment. TCS is thinking of utilising its 14 development centres across the country as data centres to achieve this purpose.