Calcutta, April 1: Cashing in on the implementation of the value-added tax (VAT), Tally Solutions expects to close 2004-05 with a turnover of Rs 300 crore. The company has projected a four-fold increase in turnover in the current fiscal to Rs 1,200 crore.

?VAT has been a blessing to us. In the last 28 days, we added half-a-million registered users against 1.5 lakh in the last 18 years,? Tally Solutions president Bharath Gopalakrishnan said at the Tally mela being held in the city.

Gopalakrishnan said though there were only 1.5 lakh registered users, around 30 lakh people use the Tally software in the country, most of who have procured the software in an illegitimate manner.

In 2005-06, the company plans to add another 20 lakh users. During 2003-04, the company had registered a turnover of Rs 100 crore. With a Rs 300-crore turnover in 2004-05, it will register a jump of 200 per cent.

?We had initiated awareness campaigns for Tally 7.2, the latest version, which incorporates other features such as service tax and TDS calculation, apart from VAT-enabled state-specific statutory returns, in the last few months. We have also organised around 800 seminars. Moreover, we have organised Tally melas in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore and Pune,? added Gopalakrishnan.

Also, the company had set up Tally kiosks in 59 cities. According to Gopalakrishnan, the response to these initiatives has been encouraging.

?We have also added 23,000 channel partners in the last few months,? he added.

Tally Solutions also plans to venture overseas with packaged software in the next 24 months. It is already present in the Saarc countries. ?We will enter a new market every quarter,? said Gopalakrishnan.

In the first phase, the company will cover the markets of Southeast and West Asia. In the second phase, it will enter East and West Africa, while in the final phase, it will cover North America, West Europe and Australia.

Gopalakrishnan said in India, there are 4 million small and medium enterprises, which are computerised. Considering the average cost of an accounting software to be Rs 6,000, the total market size is around Rs 2,400 crore.

However, he said Tally occupies 90 per cent of the total tapped market.

He also said Tally will be made available in regional languages and will also introduce audit tools, report-making modules and payroll structures.