N G Subramaniam, vice-president and head of banking industry practice, TCS, said the company plans to recruit 125 engineers in China by June 2003 to keep pace with the growing needs of its biggest client GE.

The China facility currently has 25 software engineers. Subramaniam said the Bangalore operations will become the hub for innovation for the banking financial services and insurance industry (BFSI) practice.

He said the company also plans to leverage in-house products and software components to build technology independent, integrated platform to deliver solutions quickly.

For example, one of the products built and branded through this platform is Quartz, the banking software of TCS.

Quartz has been chosen by the global banking services division of Societe Generale as the core system of the European platform for its international operations.

Quartz has been selected for both payment and client accounting management systems. This software package protects existing hardware and software investments, largely automates front and back office operations, provides multiple language support and offers complete flexibility for future developments.

The BFSI practice recently bagged the State Bank of India (SBI) account for its core banking project and centralised trade finance system.

SBI selected TCS to supply, customise and implement the centralised trade finance system.

The project involves supply and installation of trade finance software, customisation of the trade finance software implementation, rollout of the software at SBI branches, training to SBI personnel and support.

The core banking project involves developing capabilities using the core banking solution, efficient and personalised customer service, 24 X 7 banking through diverse types of delivery channels, fast product launch and relationship management.

The SBI group has over 13,000 branches including its seven associate banks.

The new trade finance system would be implemented at all required branches throughout the SBI group. The centralised trade finance system project till then will cover the entire gamut of the SBI group.

The banking practice of TCS, which is growing at a rate of 40 per cent, contributes 40 per cent of the total revenues of the company.