Sify Acquires Globe Travels, A Leading Player In The US-India Travel Space

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India , 2006-06-05

Sify Limited (Nasdaq: SIFY), a leader in Consumer Internet and Enterprise Services in India with global delivery capabilities announced today the acquisition of Globe Travels, a leader in online issuance of e-tickets in the India-US travel space.

This acquisition marks Sify’s entry into the fast growing online travel business, particularly e-ticketing, the category with highest revenues and fastest growth in online ecommerce today. In a country with low PC penetration, Sify is particularly well-placed with 3300 iWay cyber cafes across 153 cities from which more than a million people accessed the Internet in the last quarter. Each of these iWay cyber cafes can operate as an e-store from where existing and new customers can make online travel arrangements or purchase e-tickets. Add to this some 200,000 broadband the popular online portals www.sify.com, www.sifmax.in and the most popular site for global Indians www.samachar.com, and this strategic acquisition can be leveraged well to provide value for Sify’s users, while adding additional revenue streams for the company.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr R Ramaraj, CEO, Sify Ltd, said, “This strategic acquisition brings into our fold fast growing services that enhance our online offerings to customers, and opens up new sources of revenue. We will also have the benefit of having Mr. Herman Noronha, CEO, Globe Travels, on board along with his team, who will add value with their domain expertise.”

Mr Herman Noronha said, “We are delighted to be a part of the Sify online services network. We decided to partner with Sify, after much deliberation, given the company’s vision, range of online services, extensive reach across India and its technological capabilities”.

With over 20 years of travel industry experience in both India and the USA, Mr.Herman Noronha founded Globe Travels in the US in 1993, and built a leading and profitable enterprise in the travel business focused on the US-India market.

Mr Surya Mantha, Senior Vice President, Portals, said, “The addition of a travel portal is in line with our strategy of providing end-to-end services to Sify users. We believe we are well positioned to emerge as leading player in the online travel space with the unmatched reach afforded by the 3300 iWay cyber cafes across 153 cities, 200,000 home broadband customers, and Sify’s leading online properties including www.SifyMax.in, www.Sify.com and www.Samachar.com, the popular portal for global Indians”.

The potential for the growth of travel & ticketing arrangements online in India cannot be underscored. India today is considered to be one of the fastest growing airline markets in the world in terms of new airlines and the number of aircraft on order. According to the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IMAI), the number of Indian Internet users is slated to grow from the current 38.5 million to over 100 million by 2007-08. As Internet users grow, the number of people making travel arrangements online is expected to increase substantially in future. IMAI has projected a total of $ 262 million in online transactions for 2005-06, of which 57.85% or $ 152 million is expected in the travel and travel related sectors. Airline ticket sales online are expected to account for $ 88 million, railway ticket sales will follow with $ 63 million. The growth of online sales of air tickets has been given a further impetus by the IATA deadline of December 07 for 100% online ticketing in India, with the airlines promoting online tickets with special fares and benefits, as well as alliances.

Online travel arrangements for global Indians returning to India can also be leveraged on www.samachar.com, particularly in the US-India sector. This segment is growing at 40% year on year, with the opportunity to provide other value added services around a visit to India.

About Globe Travels

Founded in 1993 by Herman and Vanitha Noronha, Globe Travels is one of the leading players in the India-US travel space.

In India, Globe Travels has an established presence in air ticketing with e-ticketing and the capability to handle Global Distribution System (GDS) as well. With a 100,000 strong customer base in the US, Globe Travels is IATAN accredited, has an ARC membership for airline bill settlement, an Amadeus API booking engine, and GSA contracts with 26 airlines that includes 11 key carriers catering to the Indian segment.

About Sify Limited:

Sify is among the largest Internet, network and e-Commerce services companies in India, offering end-to-end solutions with a comprehensive range of products delivered over a common Internet backbone infrastructure. This Internet backbone reaches 171 cities and towns in India. A significant part of the company's revenue is derived from Corporate Services, which include corporate connectivity, network and communications solutions, security, network management services and hosting.

A host of blue chip customers use Sify's corporate service offerings. Consumer services include broadband home access, dial up connectivity and the iWay cyber café chain across 153 cities and towns. The company's network services, data center operations and customer relationship management are accredited ISO 9001:2000.

For more information about Sify, visit www.sifycorp.com.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Sify undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements.

For a discussion of the risks associated with Sify’s business, please see the discussion under the caption "Risks Related to Our Business" in the company's report on Form 6-K for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 which has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and is available by accessing the database maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.


Contact

Mr. David Appasamy, Sify Limited, +91 (044) 2254 0770 Ext. 2013
[email protected]