The Centre was inaugurated today in Budapest by S. Ramadorai, CEO, TCS. The selection of Hungary as the site for the ODC came after a comparative study of market conditions in other East European nations viz. Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic. Under the present market conditions, Hungary scored highly on the availability of good infrastructure, skilled resources and a significant English speaking workforce. Success of a pilot project that was implemented at the Budapest Bank with local hires too was a contributory factor. Friendly industrial environment and European Union membership till 2003 finally tilted the scales in Hungary’s favour.

Opening of the TCS centre at Budapest is expected to give a fillip to the
Hungarian Government’s efforts to bring in foreign investment. The work and quality practices and project management capabilities that will brought in by TCS will be TCS’s major contribution to the local economy.

The Centre had received certification from the GE assessment team as a
trusted GE Global Development Centre (GDC) earlier this month. As the first TCS development centre based in Europe, the Hungary GDC will target TCS’ European customers.

The Centre will have a strength of 100 software professionals by the end of 2001 – with almost 80% of these being local hires. Further TCS plans to recruit 100 persons every year till 2005. The Centre would adopt all TCS’ processes, methodologies and practices for project deliveries ensuring the same standards for quality as TCS centres worldwide.

Speaking on the occasion, S. Ramadorai, CEO, Tata Consultancy Services said, “TCS chose Hungary due to its top ranking among the East European countries in terms of availability of a skilled, English-speaking workforce, good infrastructure, potential EU membership and an overall conducive environment.”

In line with its practice globally, TCS plans to provide merit scholarships
to university students in Hungary interested in research and development and will also fund social welfare activities. Recruitment will be done from the Technical universities in Hungary. A local recruitment agency has already been hired for the purpose.

About Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a division of Tata Sons Limited, is a
global software solutions and consulting services enterprise. TCS is Asia’s
largest global software and services consulting company with over 16,000
professionals working at 83 branches in 23 countries and 5 continents and
with over 800 global clients. Tata Consultancy Services has 23 Global
Development Centres, 13 of which are assessed at SEI-CMM Level 5 – the highest number in the world. TCS is also the only company in the world that has 4 offices assessed at PCMM Level 4 (Software and People Capability Maturity Model. TCS has established the Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC) in Pune, Maharashtra dedicated to software research and development and the only one of its kind in Asia. The company’s website can be found at www.tcs.com.

For Further Information Contact:

Atul Takle,
VP-Corporate Communications,
TCS – Mumbai
Tel: # (022) 202 4827
Fax: # (022) 204 0711
Email: atul_takle@mumbai.tcs.co.in

OR

Ophira Samuel / Shivani Tibrewala,
Burson-Marsteller Roger Pereira – Mumbai
Tel: # (022) 281 0168-72
Fax: # (022) 284 6523
Email: ophira_samuel@b-mrp.com