Date:15/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/15/stories/2005031502080500.htm

Back Oracle sets sights on e-governance, telecom space

Our Bureau

Mr Krishan Dhawan, Oracle India's new MD

New Delhi , March 14

IDENTIFYING India as a high growth market, enterprise software major Oracle said it sees major growth opportunities in the country's e-governance, telecom, banking and agriculture space.

"We see maximum growth opportunities in e-governance, telecom, banking, manufacturing, agriculture and infrastructure space for our business," Oracle's Senior Vice-President for Asia Pacific, Mr Keith Budge, told reporters here on Monday.

The company also plans to expand operations at its development centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad. "We purchased land in Hyderabad and we will inaugurate a new building there by the middle of this year where the entire operations of the Hyderabad will be consolidated. It will also provide us with additional capacity. India is a hiring focus for us and we will continue to hire in Hyderabad and Bangalore," he said.

Oracle hired 200 people in India between November 2004 and February 2005, taking its total headcount here to 6,900. The company also expects the Indian development centre to play a crucial role in its ambitious `Project Fusion,' an initiative for providing customers of Oracle, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft with a single product upgrade by 2013.

The company has also announced that Mr Krishan Dhawan has taken over as the Managing Director of Oracle India. Mr Dhawan has succeeded Mr Shekhar Dasgupta, who will leave Oracle India after May-end.