NIIT-Genpact to set up BPO schools

Software training company NIIT and outsourcing major Genpact have entered into a 75:25 joint venture to set up training institutes in India and overseas.

The move is part of an effort to overcome the growing talent crunch in the industry.

To begin with, the two companies are together investing Rs 25 crore. They plan to set up seven institutes in Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune in the first year. Centres in China and the Philippines will follow in the second year.

The courses will cover areas like voice, banking, insurance, finance and accounting and will last for four months.

“The IT-enabled services industry employs about 700,000 people and another 1.4 million are expected to be added by 2010,” said Vijay K Thadani, CEO of NIIT. “We hope to make about 15-20 per cent of the 1.4 million workforce employable.”