The gradual opening up of the Indian economy to foreign investment has created in its wake a host of business opportunities for India-based service providers. One such service provider is the Bangalore based Aries Overseas, whose stated objective is to "help foreign investors and NRIs to overcome all the initial teething problems, and make life smoother for them". indiamarkets spoke to CEO K Prakash Chandra, to get to know more about the firm's basket of services.

indiamarkets: Could you elaborate on the activities of Aries Overseas?
Chandra: We set up this firm over an year back, to cater to the needs of foreign companies seeking an Indian presence. While the MNCs receive more extensive coverage in the media, it is also true that the process of liberalisation has attracted an even greater number of foreign Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). All these companies face teething problems in the initial stages, and they require a local presence to attend to various issues that invariably come up while setting up shop in a new geographical region.

indiamarkets: What specific services do you offer to companies entering the Indian market?
Chandra: There is a major influx of companies seeking a presence in India, who do not necessarily need to have an establishment of their own here. These companies are essentially involved in trading, rather than manufacturing activity in India. For such organisations, we offer offshore office facilities - effectively this office in Bangalore acts as their India office. We have the requisite facilities, including phone lines, Internet connectivity, discussion room and office space. This service is offered at a flat fee of $1000 per month. It is to be noted that this is more than a Business Centre, since we also offer an unlimited range of value-added services. We perform the role of a co-ordinator between the foreign company and other service providers in India. So if the company requires legal or administrative services, we would take care of these requirements, by liaising with qualified professionals in the respective areas. Being based in India, we have the expertise to identify the best person, be it a lawyer or a Chartered Accountant for a particular assignment. For these services, we charge a small commission.

indiamarkets: What do you consider your main strength as a provider of such services?
Chandra: The idea for Aries Overseas was borne out of Aries Enterprises, a provider of custom-built interiors which has been in existence for over twenty years. At Aries Enterprises, we have been doing customised office interiors for select clients, which involves liaising with six to seven agencies for various aspects of the work. While 'doing' an office, one needs to co-ordinate with various parties, for each requirement, such as blinds, tiles, furniture, etc. The sequence of events has to be proper, with delivery times being critical. All this has given us expertise in the area of multi-party co-ordination - a strength which we thought could be put to good use in Aries Overseas.

indiamarkets: How has the response to your services been so far?
Chandra: We are still at the stage of promoting our services. We have been getting a lot of enquiries from abroad, but most of them are for dealership/distribution arrangements. We are very clear on the fact that we are not a marketing agency. Yes, as part of our services, we can certainly help a company to identify marketing agents in India. Basically, we are not interested in doing piecemeal work. We would like to build long term relationships with a select list of clients, and attend to all their servicing needs.

indiamarkets: How are you marketing your services abroad?
Chandra: We are members of the Greater Mysore Chambers of Industry (GMCI). We initiate contacts with a number of foreign trade delegations at events organised by GMCI. We have been able to announce our presence through a number of trade offices abroad. At another level, we interact with individual businessmen located abroad through direct mailers and e-mail. We do get a fairly large number of responses, but we are being selective, since we are very focused about the kind of activities we would like to be in.

For NRIs we manage commercial and residential properties and the upkeep of their premises. We found that buyers had no one to look after their properties while they were away, which would mean negotiating with builders, real estate agents, arranging sales documentation, legal management, arranging construction and interiors, landscaping, settling rentals, property tax payments and much more.