OREANDA-NEWS. Aegis Limited, a global outsourcing and technology services company and part of the USD 27 billion conglomerate Essar, today laid the foundation stone and ground breaking ceremony for its new center in Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu. The foundation stone was laid by Union Finance Minister Mr P. Chidambaram, in the presence of district officials.

“I am very happy to welcome Aegis to Sivaganga, which has a large educated population and good infrastructure. I am pleased that Aegis has taken the lead in coming to smaller towns and such initiatives will not only provide jobs to locals but also invigorate the economy. I offer them all the support and wish them all the best for this center,” said Mr Chidambaram, who is also the elected Member of Parliament of Sivaganga.

This is Aegis’ 21st delivery center in India and 57th globally. The Sivaganga center will serve local, regional and well as national clients.

“Aegis has always been a front runner in exploring the benefits of having delivery centers in tier 2 and tier 3 locations of our country. These centers offer tangible and intangible benefits around the availability of skilled resources, local infrastructure and cultural affinity—delivering our motto of citizens-serving-citizens. Our newest center in Sivaganga will reinforce this strategy of not only providing opportunity for local talent but also provide our clients the flexibility to choose from a diversity of locations, skills, costs and capabilities,” said Mr Sandip Sen, Global CEO, Aegis Limited.

Aegis Sivaganga is spread across one acre of land will have modern and world-class facilities such as air-conditioned work environment with cafeteria, recreation, and training center. The center will have an initial capacity of 250 seats, which translates into 500 direct white collared jobs and is expected to additionally generate three to four times indirect employment. This expansion marks the second center in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and 21st location in India.

“We are thankful to the honorable minister and local administration for the support we have received for setting up the center. Sivaganga’s business friendly environment, local infrastructure and talent pool make it an ideal location for our business operations. In collaboration with Aegis Chennai, this delivery location would work along in a Hub and Spoke model to support Aegis' continued expansion in Southern India,” said Mr Sudhir Agarwal, Director, Essar Services India Limited.

Aegis is planning to set up many such customer contact centers in tier 2/3 towns and therefore is in conversation with several state government and local bodies. The company has significant expertise in launching and scaling-up operations in locations such Hazira, Srinagar, Lucknow, Jamshedpur, Chhindwada, Vijaywada and Bhopal.

As part of its Aegis Elite initiative, Aegis launched its delivery center in Chhindwada, Madhya Pradesh, and has scaled up operations to over 100 people in less than one year. Similarly in Srinagar, it has scaled up to 500 people. Jamshedpur center, which was launched in 2008, today is about 3,000 people strong. These centers are expected to stem migration and also encourage reverse migration, as talented local people who may have moved to other cities for jobs, will now have an opportunity to fulfill their career aspiration in their own hometown.