Source: www.tradingmarkets.com

Software giant Wipro Ltd and Aegis BPO are among some 20 firms vying for a multi-million dollar outsourcing contract from National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), officials on both sides said Monday.

NACIL, which came out of Air India’s merger with Indian Airlines, has decided to outsource its call centre operations and has invited open tenders for the same, airline officials told Hindustan Times.

The company wants bids for a call centre that can handle 35,000 local calls and about 8,000 international calls per day about airline queries. The centre will also send out alerts on weather, flight delays and other passenger service-related issues.

It will be a 24×7 centre and will likely be located in either one the NCR townships or in the outskirts of Mumbai.

While the exact amount of bidding has not been ascertained, it is learnt that it could be one of the largest domestic outsourcing deal running into millions of dollars.

Industry officials familiar with the matter said Wipro and Aegis BPO, an Essar company, have submitted their ‘request for interest’ among 20 other companies to run and manage the call centre.

When contacted a Wipro spokesperson said: “we don’t comment on market speculation.” Aegis officials also refused to comment on the subject.

“The right company will be selected through a global bid,” said a NACIL official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

NACIL has to integrate flight schedules of Air India and Indian by March 29 and roll out the proposed new services quickly, because of growing competition. The combined loss of the two airlines touched Rs700 crore last fiscal year.

Source: www.computing.co.uk

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has signed a $95m (£47m) deal with Indian outsourcing firm Cognizant to provide electronic support to its research and development (R&D) operations.

The five-year contract will require Cognizant to provide a range of services, data management planning, medical coding, and the training of AstraZeneca staff.

The agreement is part of AstraZeneca’s wider plans to improve the effectiveness of its R&D projects, according to Anders Ekblom, vice president of clinical development.

“Delivering efficiencies through reshaping our business is one of our key strategic priorities,” said Ekblom.

The new deal will build on previous contracts between the two companies, signed in 2004. Cognizant already supports AstaZeneca’s business operations in the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.