Energy Major bp on its Transformation; Plans to Set Up Global Biz Service Centre in Pune, Employ 2,000

Energy supermajor bp on Thursday has revealed its plan to set up a major new centre for its global business services (GBS) operations in Pune, and for the same, it will hire around 2,000 people in next few months.

Further, this bp-owned and operated centre is expected to begin operations by January 2021. The company is investing in clean energy projects through Lightsource BP.

Also, the new centre will provide business processing and advanced analytics capabilities in support of the company’s businesses worldwide.

The move came a few days after the oil major said that it would take a writedown of up to USD 17.5 billion after cutting its forecasts of future energy prices.

Commenting on the development, Camille Drummond, senior vice president for GBS, bp said that “as bp works to reinvent itself and reimagine energy, we are excited to accelerate the transformation of our business processes. Our new centre in India will enable us to put digital at the heart of bp’s businesses. Accessing India’s great talent pool and leveraging an agile mindset, we expect to advance the customer experience, adding further value to bp.”

The company said that it’s GBS organization brings together innovation and data analytics to deliver the most efficient and effective business solutions for its businesses. From customer service and vendor payments to financial accounting and control, it supports every part of the company.

bp already invested in India in various businesses such as oil, gas, lubricants and petrochemicals. It is also having a joint venture with Reliance Industries for the gas value chain, retail, aviation fuels and mobility solutions. Currently, the company has employed around 7,500 people in India.

The company said that its new centre in India will assume operational ownership of third-party business processes and will seek to further extend its work with analytics and data science capabilities to pursue better business outcomes.

Establishing a centre in India, the company said, will allow it to tap into the growing digital talent pool in a country that is strategically important for it.

Speaking on the company’s expansion plans, Sashi Mukundan, bp’s regional president and head of the country, said that “this is another significant step forward for bp in India. The centre will allow us to provide innovative solutions as we tap into India’s diverse and skilled workforce, expand our footprint here and develop low carbon businesses around the world.”

Moreover, the company said that the new centre will lead to its development and application of cutting-edge digital solutions and agile ways of working as it works to increasingly automate and transform its transactional processes.

Meanwhile, the company believes that the new centre will add to it’s growing business presence in India.

Earlier, Indian private equity fund Everstone Group and British solar parks developer Lightsource BP formed 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) called ‘EverSource Capital’ to jointly manage funds targeting contracted power, distribution infrastructure and energy services in India. This JV will provide the funds with the financial and strategic resources of the partners aiming to create successful green energy businesses in partnership with local management teams.