Rajeev Krishnan (name changed), a Satyam Computer Services Ltd employee based in Pune, was wondering whether he could continue with his home loan or give up on his dream home for which he has already paid EMIs for two years. Then Tech Mahindra came out riding as a white knight to bail out crisis-ridden Satyam. Krishnan and his wife Geeta are relieved that the life they were used to, derailed for a while, will be on track once again.

Like Krishnan, hundreds of Satyam employees in Pune, passing through a rough patch ever since the Satyam scandal broke in January, have reason to believe that the nightmare of three months may soon be over. Tech Mahindra’s bid is subject to certain approvals.

One employee, Chithra (name changed), said, “I was under pressure from family and friends to look for another job and I was hanging on hoping some miracle would happen... that miracle has happened.”

Anand Mahindra, chairman of Tech Mahindra, said, “The Mahindra Group is known for its good governance and the Tech Mahindra team has demonstrated its outstanding customer-centric focus. I am sure that Satyam’s customers and employees will welcome this news.”

Ganesh Natrajan, former chairman of NASSCOM and vice-chairman and managing director of Zensar Technologies, said the IT industry in particular and India in general could heave a collective sigh of relief at the end of an important chapter in the Satyam saga.

“The government, the board and NASSCOM have done excellent work, since the fraud story broke, in restoring confidence to shareholders, customers and employees. With mature handling by the new shareholders, I have no doubt that customers and employees and the entire international community will have their faith in the Indian IT sector completely restored as a result of this excellent work,” he said.

... contd.