Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad here on Thursday inaugurated a Business Process Service (BPS) set up by global software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) under the India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS).

"It is a big day for Bihar and a historical day, the TCS has come to Patna. I am emotional today as Patna is my hometown," Prasad said after formally inaugurating the 1,000-seat centre here in the presence of TCS's CEO and Managing Director Rajesh Gopinathan and top company executives. 

He said the government plans to launch 48,000 such seats across the country, with a target employment of 72,450 in the sector, but restricting itself to tier-II and -III cities as part of its India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS).

The scheme is being executed by allocating seats across 50 cities in 20 states. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), where this week's 1,000 seats will be inaugurated, is one of the bidders.

Prasad said: "It is a mission statement that TCS has come, it will empower Bihar and it will generate new hope among boys and girls."

He said the government has decided to take IT industry to small towns and outside big cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad, which have became IT hubs. "One should remember that setting up of a call centre is a small thing as setting up of a BPO is a big thing."

Prasad announced that BPOs are coming up in three towns of Bihar -- Patna, Muzaffarpur and Dalsinghsarai. "Six BPOs will be set up in Patna alone and initially one each in Muzaffarpur and Dalsinghsarai."

According to him, BPOs will be set up in small towns like Kurnool, Amravati, Bareilly, Jhansi, Ghazipur and Allahabad. "It is part of the digital India dream."

Prasad said he has directed the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) that success of the BPOs should be its priority. "I have told STPI Director General Omkar Rai that I will personally monitor the working of the BPOs."

"The launch of the new centre in Patna is aligned with the government's ambitious IBPS scheme, aimed at creating thousands of new jobs driven by technology and taking the IT revolution beyond the metros," TCS's CEO Rajesh Gopinathan said.

Gopinathan said the TCS centre is a state of the art facility with robust administrative and technology infrastructure that will drive new opportunities for businesses and jobs and help build IT ecosystem in the region.

The TCS centre was envisaged under the Digital India Programme to leverage IT industry's growth to create new opportunities for India's talent and drive inclusive growth, a company press release said.

According to TCS spokesperson Pradipta Bagchi, the TCS centre in Patna is one of three such BPS centres being set up by TCS, with the other two located at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Nashik in Maharashtra.

The BPS unit of TCS is among the largest in the country with annual revenue of over $2 billion. It works with customers on core industry-specific processes, delivers analytics and insight as well as enterprise services such as finance and accounting, HR and supply chain management.

TCS complements its experience and expertise with innovative delivery models such as robotic automation and providing Business Process as a service.