BT to invest 78 million pounds in Asia, stay invested in Tech Mahindra

NEW DELHI: Communication solution provider, British Telecom, will invest £78 million over a year in Asia and hire more than 150 people in India over three years, a senior executive said on Tuesday. The technology provider will not immediately lower its stake in Tech Mahindra, in which BT holds a 24.4% stake.

“Tech Mahindra remains a key supplier to BT and while further sales may be considered in future, BT expects to continue to have a shareholding in Tech Mahindra for some time,” a BT spokesperson said. BT has been reducing its stake in the Mahindra & Mahindra owned company over the last several quarters.

Last December, it reduced the stake to 24.4%, lowering it by 5%. BT Global Services Asia Pacific president Kevin Taylor said they were “happy investors” and did not comment on market speculation that indicated any reduction of ownership in the Indian company.

The British company had previously announced hiring 300 people in Asia Pacific every year, a region wherein 80% of its global clients are expanding. This region is one of the key growth areas for the group and the investment would be evenly distributed among five geographies including India, Taylor added. The company estimates the Asian market to be around £8 billion, growing at 6% a year overall and 15% for managed services.
With more and more Indian companies going global, the company is getting very high value, long-term contracts from the Indian market.

“We’re seeing a real flow from managed contracts, four-five year deals. We’re working with customers on security, data protection, network, value-added services and managing IT. It’s very exciting when these deals come in tens of millions , these are significant transactions,” Taylor added. BT expects the growth trajectory for business in the country to continue for several years despite losing its cost arbitrage, Taylor said, because it still had the ability to innovate and reinvent and macro-economics working for it. India will also form part of most of the investment when it comes to order of execution , delivery, portfolio, people and showcases. BT launched its product and services showcase on Tuesday.