Tier 2 cities to witness BPO boom

BANGALORE: In around five years time, the BPO growth in secondary cities would be five times as much as metros and other cities, predicted SN Zindal, director general, STPI.

The STPI is encouraging this growth by setting up earth stations in many cities across the country. "Currently STPI, has set up 44 centers across the country in collaboration with state governments," he said.

He was speaking at the conference on "Technology Outsourcing" at the Bangalore IT.com. He said that while the BPOs are booming in tier one cities, the industry is plagued by HR issues and pricing pressures. He suggested secondary cities as a way to tide over this problem. "Secondary cities have lower cost of operations and lower attrition compared to bigger cities. Adequate training needs to be provided to ensure the quality of manpower. We are doing this by having assessment programs."

Zindal urged companies to move up the value chain and explore new sectors like engineering and design, knowledge processing and logistics.