Exxon to set up $500million business centre in Bangalore

While the company did not reveal its proposed investment in the project, state officials indicated that it could well exceed US$500 million (Bt16.8 billion). The centre will provide a range of technical and business support services for the company globally.
Bryan Milton, president of ExxonMobil Global Services, who called on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah, said: “We are excited to add a new location to the company’s global business support centre network. It caters to operations in 120 countries.”
Milton said the centre would help in improving effectiveness of the overall support network by centralising and neutralising business processes. The decision to establish a business support centre in Bangalore, he said, was part of the company’s commitment to evaluate its global businesses and opportunities.
A state government release quoted him as saying that the multimillion-dollar business support centre in Bangalore would be similar to others in the ExxonMobil global network. It is expected to generate more than 1,000 positions.
Elsewhere in India, ExxonMobil affiliates operate facilities in Gurgaon, New Delhi and Mumbai.
Milton said the company had picked Bangalore over other locations in India because the available skills there offered a good fit.
Exxon is the second oil and gas multinational to set up a facility in the information-technology capital. In 2006, Shell set up a research and development centre leading to the creation of more than 1,500 jobs for researchers and engineers.
Exxon’s announcement comes as a major relief for Siddaramiah, as his government was facing flak for ignoring industrial development. The company’s plan to invest more than $500 million, however, comes two years after the Congress party came to power in the state, a period in which Karnataka had little to boast of in terms of major investments.