Mahindra British Telecom on a hiring spree

MUMBAI: Mahindra British Telecom (MBT), a telecom-focussed software joint venture between Indian auto group Mahindra & Mahindra and British Telecom, plans to raise its staff strength by 50-65 percent this year, a spokesman said.

"We are adding 1,500-2,000 people this year and 80 percent of them will be in India," he said. "This is based on our internal estimates of business, on what our customers are telling us and what our sales people are saying." The company currently has about 3,000 employees.

MBT announced late on Wednesday that its net profit for the year to March 2003 rose 35.85 percent to Rs 1.7 billion from Rs 1.26 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 18.13 percent to Rs 6.23 billion from Rs 5.27 billion.

The firm, which currently earns about three-fourths of its revenue from British Telecom, has expanded its sales and marketing teams in the United States and Europe to tap other customers there.

John Helleur, MBT's chief executive, said in a statement he expected market conditions to remain tough with continued pressure on prices and margins, but saw the company expanding and deepening its customer base.

© Reuters