The Indian IT majors are locking horns to bid for the biggest ever information technology (IT) management contract in Britain; a deal valued around $ 3.5 billion (Rs 250 billion).
The multi-year contract, which will be decided in 2019, is to be floated by Network Rail, Britain's state-owned entity and managed railway network.
Business Standard reported that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) could be seen as a front-runner as it has a long relationship with Network Rail, including its presence in Britain and across Europe. The Mumbai-based IT giant has been associated with Network Rail for over five years, managing its IT related works.
Bengaluru-based Wipro and Noida headquartered HCL technologies are also considered strong in terms of infrastructure management services (IMS). The two global conglomerates are also expected to bid for the project.
TCS, along with other IT companies, including Cognizant and Accenture was among the five companies to win a contract from Network Rail for designing, building and managing its IT infrastructure. The numbers pertaining to the deal was not revealed but it was expected to be around $400 million.
Britain's railways' infrastructure is entirely owned by Network Rail which includes its tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and station. It is to be noted that the Indian IT behemoth, TCS has been operating in the European region for over 30 years.
In fact, it has already invested heavily in the continent in the last decade. The company has its presence in around 21 countries with at least 15,000 employees across Britain, France, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
The company has major clients in this region including ABN Amro, Bekaert, British Airways, BT, Europcar and Ferrari. In the last few years, the company has won several multi-million dollars deals in America.
TCS has witnessed a healthy growth in terms of revenue thanks to these deals; its growth was reflected in its first-quarter earning with its European operation clocking an 18 percent growth in revenue as against 7 percent rise in North America.
