31 May,2009 11:58 AM IST | | PTI
India may have been hailed for long as the world's top outsourcing destination, but a new study has named as many as eight cities in the country among the world's 25 riskiest places for offshoring, mainly on concerns like terrorism, pollution and geopolitical issues.
The national capital region comprising Delhi Gurgaon and Noida has earned the dubious distinction of being the worst offshoring destination within the country, according to a survey in the annual Black Book of Outsourcing. The NCR is followed by Mumbai as the second riskiest offshoring hub within India, while Kolkata has been ranked as least riskiest in the country. The other domestic cities named in the global list of 25 riskiest offshoring destinations include Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Chandigarh.
In the overall global list, NCR has been ranked as sixth most riskiest, Mumbai ninth, Chandigarh 15th, Pune 20th, Chennai 21st, Bangalore 23rd, Hyderabad 24th and Kolkata the 25th most riskiest in the world. Meanwhile, no Indian city has managed to find a place on a separate list of 25 safest offshoring destinations. Both the lists have been published in the 2009 edition of the Black Book of Outsourcing, brought out every year by US-based Brown-Wilson Group.
The publication is considered as a major independent analysis and advisory research for the outsourcing players and investors globally. The rankings of safest and riskiest places are based on factors like high terrorist or rebel target threats, uncontrolled environment waste and pollution, corruption and organised crime, unstable currency, geopolitical conditions and unsecured networks and technology.
In terms of terrorism threats Mumbai has been ranked as the location with the highest risk, followed by Delhi NCR and Jerusalem in Israel. Further, Delhi NCR has been ranked as the riskiest place when it comes to heightening trans-national and geopolitical concerns.
Bangalore, another leading outsourcing destination in the country has been ranked as the riskiest place in terms of uncontrolled environmental waste and pollution.
Overall, Colombian city Bogota has been ranked as the most riskiest in the world, while Singapore has been named as the safest offshoring destination. India accounts for the maximum number of cities in the 25 riskiest places, while China and Mexico lead the tally in the 25 safest list with three cities each. There is just one Chinese city, Dalian, among the 25 riskiest places at 12th place.
In the safest 25 list, Singapore is followed by Dublin (Ireland), Santiago (Chile), Krakow/Warsaw (Poland) and Toronto/Montreal (Canada) in the top five. The three Chinese cities Beijing, Shenzen and Shanghai have been ranked as 9th, 22nd and 24th safest destinations respectively.
In the riskiest 25 list, Bogota is followed by Bangkok in Thailand, Johanesburgh in South Africa, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Kingston in Jamaica among the top five. Besides, according to global management consulting firm A T Kearney, India continues to be the most favoured back- office of the world, but the Middle East and North Africa region is slowly emerging as a promising offshoring destination because of its large, well educated population and proximity to Europe.
The survey also stated the global financial crisis has slowed recent offshoring moves, the percentage of companies' staff offshore may very well increase as a result of the crisis.
