Karrox to make South India foray

After expanding its presence into West Bengal recently, IT education and training company Karrox Technologies is planning its foray into the southern Indian market. The company is looking to start operations out of Bangalore, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu sometime this year, according to Karrox CEO Jeetendra Nair. Karrox will invest Rs 15-20 crore in the southern expansion phase, Nair said. “We expect to start our Bangalore operations within a month or so. We are in negotiations for franchisees, and expect to have 25-30 franchised centres in South India in the next 18-24 months if all goes well. That said, we will not be expanding in the southern markets solely through the franchisee route.” Mumbai-based Karrox typically adopts a 1:1 mix while setting up owned and franchised centres. “For the Karnataka operations, we may opt for fully-owned centres in Bangalore, and adopt the franchisee model in other parts of Karnataka. We will also look for a master franchisee for the state,” Nair said. Karrox has specialised in IT training, testing, and certifications, besides offering corporate, university and institutional training services. The company, which presently operates 18 fully-owned centres, first entered into franchise mode six months ago. “Ten of our franchisee centres are operational presently, and we are looking to leverage the franchisee model further to grow our southern Indian operations,” Nair said. Down the years, the company has had a good presence in the western region with significant inroads being made in North India with centres coming up in New Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Recently, Karrox started operations in eastern India by tying up with a leading business house as master franchisee in Kolkata, where it has set up operations on a 5,000-sq ft area. The master franchisee has been granted rights to conduct business for Karrox throughout West Bengal, start one-stop IT training malls and provide complete support to the company`s unit franchisees coming up in the state.