Capgemini to make India the epicentre of its operations, says chairman Paul Hermelin

With 50 per cent of its work force already based in India, French software major Capgemini today said it plans to make the country the epicentre of its execution and will focus on building capabilities around innovation, client experience and leadership.

"For me, India is the backbone of our group, it is what holds everything together. We are very close to having 50 per cent headcount from India. We have 90,000 employees here and the group employs 1,80,000. A few more days and then we will have 1,00,000," Capgemini chairman and chief executive Paul Hermelin told reporters here.

He attributed the iGate acquisition as the real reason behind the increased role India plays in the group.

"The iGate acquisition forced us to think of the role of India in the group. The group had 60,000 employees in India then, with iGate it became 85,000 and now we have added 5,000 organically," he said.

At a gross level, the company plans to hire around 35,000 people here this year, while the attrition rate at present is 15 per cent.

Capgemini launched a new campus at Airoli, Navi Mumbai which can seat 30,000. Built at an investment cost of Rs 1,800 crore, the campus is spread across 50 acres with a built-up area of 3 million sqft.

The first phase of the campus with a built-up area of 1 million sqft and a seating capacity of about 13,000 is operational, while the second phase is expected to be completed by early 2018, Hermelin said.

"We will leave Vikhroli campus, and will regroup people here. We will progress rapidly and will have 26,000 people (on the Airoli campus) and we aim to have 30,000 people which will make us the biggest in single location," he said.

He said Capgemini will create an innovation centre at Airoli which will form part of the network of applied innovation and exchange, launched at the end of last year.

The Capgemini group has 40 innovation centres, out of which nine are group innovation centres, and one of such centres will come up in Airoli," the chairman said.

image credit: Indiatimes