Date:14/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/14/stories/2009011456391500.htm

Business

TCS bags WB projects handled by Satyam

WASHINGTON: In an unusually delayed disclosure, the World Bank said it had awarded Tata Consultancy Services a chunk of the projects that were earlier given to Satyam Computer.

The Bank had barred Satyam from doing business with it for eight years beginning September 2008, months before the IT company was shaken by a Rs .7,800-crore accounting fraud.

“We have hired Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to do much of the IT work that Satyam used to do,” a World Bank spokesperson told PTI.

The projects were awarded to TCS the same month through competitive bidding — an indication that the Bank is not specifically targeting Indian IT companies.

The Bank recently disclosed names of companies worldwide that have been barred from doing business with it for violating fraud and corruption guidelines. The list of companies included Wipro and another company, Megasoft. When contacted, a TCS spokesperson said, “We bagged the contract from the World Bank a long time back... early September last year.” — PTI