Beijing: IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has won a landmark deal worth a whopping US$ 100 million from the state-run Bank of China (BOC), industry sources said yesterday (Dec 3,2006).

It is being dubbed as one of the major IT-related deals signed by a Chinese bank ahead of the opening up of the country's banking sector to foreign competition by December 11 under Beijing's commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), industry sources told sources.

"It is a major breakthrough for Indian IT companies, who are aggressively expanding their operations and bidding for government contracts in China," a software expert said.

Under the just-inked deal, the Indian IT giant will provide a range of banking solutions to BOC. However the details are not yet known.

All major Indian IT giants, including TCS, Infosys, Satyam, Wipro and NIIT, and i-flex have set up bases in China, servicing their multinationals customers in the country and targeting the huge domestic software market as well as the Japanese and South Korean markets.

Meanwhile, TCS and its Chinese partners are expected to get their business licence soon for their Beijing-based joint venture, another milestone in the company's bid to expand its global footprint.

The joint venture company will be located in Beijing's Zhongguancun Software Park (z-Park) and will provide IT services and solutions to China's domestic market as well as major markets particularly Japan as well as the rest of Asia-Pacific region, US, and Europe.