Chennai: Birlasoft, which belongs to the $1.5-billion CK Birla group, will be investing around $15 million in over two years'' time. The investment will be towards new development centres within and outside India.

Ranked 15^th in terms of turnover by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the $72-million Birlasoft has three software development centres: Noida, Melbourne and Chennai.

The 600-seat Chennai centre is the latest one and also doubles up as the business continuity process centre and disaster recovery centre. Group chairman C K Birla says the company will invest around $5 million in Chennai, though he declines to mention the source of finance for expansion.

According to him 20 per cent of the equity in the company is held by General Electric (GE). "Nearly 50 per cent of the business is derived from GE." Operating in the fields of banking and financial services, retail, manufacturing, healthcare and utilities, Birlasoft is now focussing on e-business and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

With a total workforce of 1,500, Birlasoft is planning to increase the numbers to 2,500. "Our billing rates are around $65/hour (onsite) and around $25/hour (offshore)," says Birlasoft CEO Atanu Banerji.