Tata Business Support Systems (TBSS), a Tata group subsidiary engaged in the business of providing back-end support to the group companies, is planning to recruit around 5,000 persons for its rural BPOs in the next 5 years.

"As the Tata Group companies are present in various places across the country, TBSS plans to provide call centre support to the other group companies.

Gradually, in the next 5 years, the total number of people employed in these rural call centres would go to 5 thousand," Tata Chemicals Vice-President and Tata Sons Executive Director R Gopalakrishnan said.

As a pilot project, the company has taken an initiative of engaging rural masses by setting up one BPO in Mithapur, Gujarat in the vicinity of Tata Chemicals' manufacturing unit. Recently, it has also inaugurated another one in Babrala in Uttar Pradesh, which is also located adjacent to Tata Chemicals' manufacturing plant.

Currently, TBSS provides back-end support such as call centres and centralised accountings to various companies of the group, including Tata Indicom, Tata Sky and Virgin mobiles.

It is now looking at replicating the initiative in other parts of the country, particularly in the areas where the group company's manufacturing units are located.

Initially, the company would divert the regional calls to these centres, which have a better vernacular compatibility as compared with urban BPO's. The company also said hiring in rural BPO's have a cost advantage of 60 per cent.

"It has a potential to be much bigger with less attrition, more stability and more commitment," Gopalakrishnan said.