ERIL expands market reach

Chennai based IT distributor, Electronic Resources India Limited (ERIL), has re-located

its corporate office and warehouse to a 15,000 sq ft space at the Guindy Industrial estate

in Chennai. This comes after US based Ingram Micro, the world's largest distributor of IT

products, took over ERIL's operations in the country. The company also plans to expand its

branches in the country from 14 to 22 by December 2000.

The company is currently in the process of implementing

`Impulse', Ingram Micro's indigenous ERP package, expected to be completed by October. The

re-christening of the company to Ingram Micro India Limited (IMIL) will take place after

the implementation of Impulse.

NY Prasad, Senior Vice President, ERIL, said, "After

Ingram Micro took over, our product base has increased substantially. To accommodate and

monitor the flow of products, we have relocated ourselves to larger premises." The

company had earlier moved its corporate office to Chennai from Bangalore for

well-distributed market network and availability of international airport and sea-port. It

has also shifted its sales billing to Chennai from Pondicherry  after the Tamil Nadu

government reduced the sales tax to two percent on computers and peripherals.

The company also plans to set up multi-locational logistics

and warehousing centers across the country. Currently, Chennai operates as the only

logistics centers as the products are imported by air or sea. As per the plan, the four

metros would be made into a logistic center initially followed by Bangalore and Hyderabad.

A similar plan is also on the cards for after sales service centers to be set up across

the country, starting from Chennai.

With a network of 900 channel partners across the country,

ERIL has registered revenues of about Rs 110 crore for the first six months this fiscal.

The company will soon launch the Seagate range of products in the country, by becoming the

national distributor of India. It is also conducting a free seminar on 3 August in Chennai

on the subject of `IT Triology in computing'. It will be representing its principals,

Intel, Hewlett Packard and Quantum.