• PRAGATI VERMA: So do you feel rupee appreciation is getting more attention than it deserves?

I think it is getting a lot more attention. The government is focussed on it, which is how it should be. We are hedged for two-three years, so we know exactly what our dollar costs will be. That’s the benefit of having GE as a parent. We didn’t have a choice; we were hedging even when the rupee was depreciating. It was a policy. When you have revenues in dollars and costs in rupees, you hedge. We are not in the foreign currency business. We are in the business-process business, so we are hedged up.

• ANURADHA NAGARAJ: What makes you think of going to smaller places? Is the talent in metros not enough?

No, talent in the metros is more than enough. Sometimes we create our own problems. We recruit people and bring them to Gurgaon, Bangalore, or Hyderabad. Firstly, we are already hiring from all over India. Secondly, these smaller cities have enough people. I mean a small city in India has two million people. I want to set up a 3,000-person centre, so how difficult would that be? Will they need some specialised training? Perhaps. Will they need some more training? Perhaps. When we first opened our centre in Jaipur, we couldn’t hire more than 30 people. Today, we can hire 300 per month. Smaller cities also offer lower cost, lower attrition, more stability. Transportation is easier. Above all, life is generally easier.

... contd.