UTI on Rs. 80 cr. info drive, may hive off IT division

NEW DELHI, DEC. 6. The Unit Trust of India is expected to invest Rs. 80 crores on various IT initiatives including setting up of a centralised data processing centre and convert existing branches into financial centres, to improve customer services and reduce cost of operations.

After completion of its e-initiatives expectedly by December 2001, the country's biggest mutual fund may hive off its infotech division into a separate company.

According to UTI executive director, Mr. B. S. Pandit, the e- initiatives as suggested by McKinsey in its report on business process re-engineering, was expected to cost around Rs. 80 crores. ``The centralised data processing centre in Navi Mumbai, expected to come up by July 2001, will maintain records of 45 million unit-holders and assist in faster servicing," he said.

Tata Consultancy Services was assisting UTI for developing an integrated software that would service all the 84 different schemes of the fund, Mr. Pandit said. The UTI was also planning to interconnect its network of 54 branches through leased ISDN lines in addition to the V-Sat connections to facilitate transaction of funds through the Internet, he said.

Instead of the organic expansion, he said ``investors services would be through digital network in near future." He said the fund would come up with 39 UTI financial centres (UFCs) by 2001 and ultimately convert all the existing 54 branches into UFCs.

Mr. Pandit said the IT division would be strengthened in the coming months and house about 500 professionals. ``We are actively looking at using the IT capabilities developed internally for enhancing its contribution to the parent organisation," he said.

Asked whether the fund would hive off its IT division into a separate company, Mr. Pandit said ``We are looking at that possibility as well." He, however, declined to give the time frame within which this would be done as nothing has been finalised as yet.

On the proposed split of the country's financial power house into three separate units, he said it came up for consideration after the idea of having three big mutual funds such as UTI in India was mooted.

- PTI

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