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Firstsource Solutions Ltd, the business process outsourcing (BPO) firm promoted by India’s largest private bank and the country’s second-largest bank ICICI Bank Ltd, is expanding its footprint to Australia, said its new chief executive Matthew Vallance. ICICI owns about 20% of Firstsource.

ICICI currently has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Russia and Canada, branches in United States, Singapore, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Qatar and Dubai International Finance Centre and representative offices in United Arab Emirates, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, UK, Belgium and Germany.

According to industry body National Association for Software and Services Companies, or Nasscom, Firstsource is India’s sixth-largest BPO firm. “We are just starting operations in Australia, which we believe is a good opportunity, especially with increasing openness to outsourcing there,” said Vallance.

Technology market researcher IDC estimates the Australian BPO market at US$5 billion in 2010. Based on existing demand and outsourcing trends in Australia, Vallance expects the Australian operation to contribute “about half of our UK revenues,” once operations are fully established and matured. The US contributes about 60% of the revenue for Firstsource. The UK and India contribute 27% and 12%, respectively.

Firstsource is also expanding its delivery centre in the Philippines, where it employs around 1,000 people. The company’s workforce in the Southeast Asian country “would be significantly large” after the expansion, Vallance said, without giving details.

According to Srishti Anand, an analyst with ICICI Securities Ltd, “Almost 90% of its (Firstsource) business comes from the telecom and media vertical whereas the balance comes from the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) vertical.”