MUMBAI: News provider Reuters plans to increase it's head count from the present 340 at Bangalore to about 1200 by the end of 2005. A formal inauguration of it's new offshore center by CM Dharam Singh was held yesterday 7 October 2004.
 
 
The Bangalore center will be one of the four key locations of Reuters around the world. It will provide world class information to professionals in the financial services, the news media and the corporate markets as per media reports. Reuters plans to locate around 50 per cent of it's data operations in Bangalore, which will result in 450 jobs 'disappearing' at it's overseas centers by the end of next year.

At present about 50 jobs have already been dissolved. This is line with Reuters cost cutting "Fast Forward" programme which aims to cut the staff numbers by 3000 to 13000.

Company estimates show that costs in India would be around 40 per cent of the costs in UK or the US. The journalist strength in Bangalore is around 20 for providing new types of coverage on corporate news coming out of the US. This team would be doubled soon. No journalist has been made redundant because of Bangalore operations said a company spokesperson as per media reports.

Reuters also plans to look at third party vendors to offer high end technology support in Bangalore in the areas of automated processes and work flow technology. On the anvil is formation of an internal business services operations within the Bangalore facility which would form a part of the Reuters Global Finance Division for processing finance transactions of the group.