Chennai: Computer hardware manufacturer HCL Infosystems Limited has decided to focus on bulk customer segments viz., corporates and educational institutions to expand its information technology (IT) training wing.

It may be recalled the Rs11,648 crore turnover company entered the lucrative IT education line a year ago and focused on the retail segment with its 30 centres branded HCL Career Development Centres (HCL CDC). Located in major Indian cities, the centre offers full and part time industry related courses in software and networking.

"The corporate/enterprise and the educational institutional segments are new to us," says S T M Eswar, head, HCL, Education. "The modalities of targeting them are being worked out."

Meanwhile, the company is planning to add 70 more centres across the country taking the total number of HCL CDCs to 100. According to Eswar, the company is more in favour taking the franchisee route for expansion than through its own centres.

"A franchisee will have to invest around Rs25 lakh - Rs50 lakh to start a centre. Nearly 80 per cent of our centres would be franchisee owned. However the faculty is from the HCL group companies," he said. Out of the existing 30 centres, HCL Infosystems owns just six.

The HCL CDC courses are priced starting from Rs10,000 and goes up to Rs56,000.

Interestingly HCL Infosystems is not looking at rapid expansion of its IT education centres. "We are capping the number of centres at 100. We will increase the depth of courses," says Eswar.

One main reason for capping the number of centres is that the teaching faculty at the centers is from the HCL group. It would be difficult to find faculty members in house as each centre would require around 5 trainers.

Queried about the placement Eswar says, the company does not give any assured placement. Group company HCL Technologies Limited meets its requirements for new recruits from these centres.