TCS hedges $1.5 billion to tackle Re fluctuations

Tata Consultancy Services said on Monday it has hedged funds worth $1.5 billion to create a safeguard against the fluctuations in the rupee movement.

Chief Executive S Ramadorai said, "We have hedged for about $1.5 billion. I believe one has to run the business on fundamentals and not on currency fluctuations."

He also said it was very difficult to predict the rupee movement as in the last one-and-a-half months, the currency has begun to depreciate against the dollar.

RamadoraI, while admitting that the sub-prime crisis is affecting the IT industry's new business opportunities, said focus on existing business could offset the adverse impact.

"The sub-prime crisis is a reality. We were the first ones to say that there is a definite slowdown in regard to some projects. But then there are also plenty of opportunities that are available. I think consolidation of existing business is to be sustained," he said.

Meanwhile, the company, in a white paper released on Monday, said India's e-governance ranking pales in comparison with various developing countries even as the per capita public sector IT spend is a mere Rs 55 as against Rs 8,500 in New Zealand and Rs 6,500 in Singapore.

The country's largest IT services provider has recommended a five-point plan to help build an ideal e-governance framework in India that includes the setting up of a government standing committee to oversee national e-governance programmes.

E-governance is high on the list of TCS:  Its newly-constituted government business unit -- which will focus on city, state and national programmes to help governments to improve efficiency, drive down costs and increase transparency -- is a part of its domestic focus. India currently accounts for more than 9 per cent of TCS' revenues in its bid to tackle the likes of IT majors, like IBM, locally.

S Ramadorai, CEO and MD, TCS, told mediapersons in New Delhi: "If implemented properly, e-governance can be an asset for the un-served and under-served areas in India and drive new efficiency gains nationwide.

While Indian IT is the envy of the world and is associated with some of the most advanced and complex IT projects globally, India has not fully leveraged its potential of IT and the expertise of the industry."

According to the WEF Global Information Technology Report, India ranks 44 among 122 countries analysed, behind Barbados, Latvia, Tunisia, Thailand and the Slovak Republic, among others.

"There is tremendous potential for e-governance to benefit citizens exponentially and maximise the return on government investments," added Ramadorai.

TCS has been the frontrunner in the initiative to digitise government processes. It has reportedly bagged a Rs 1,200-crore (Rs 12 billion) e-passport programme from the government. The project is to be implemented over a period of eight years.

The IT major has also been an implementation partner with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs-21 (MCA-21) for the country's largest e-governance project. The project, which begun in 2006, has allowed over 7 lakh registered companies in the country to electronically file statutory filings.