BLS International: Best of both worlds
It would be quite natural for anyone to define a private entity in visa application processing as an offshoot of the gigantic multi-trillion-dollar global travel and tourism business. But Shikhar Aggarwal, the young Joint Managing Director of India-based BLS International, which is among the leading visa processing players globally, would beg to differ. While visa processing continues to remain its mainstay, the nearly 20-year-old company has ventured into new directions, appearing to be more aligned with what is now popularly called G2C (Government to Citizen) services.
If examined closely, BLS International comes across as quite an interesting story. The company was founded by Shikhar’s father, Diwakar Aggarwal (Chairman of BLS International), who was previously involved in the family business of polymer compound manufacturing. However, he was determined to move into the services industry and identified opportunities in the visa processing business for embassies and consulates, which was then at a nascent stage. Governments across the globe had just begun showing an inclination to outsource visa-related backend processes to private entities, owing to the mounting volume of travellers. Market analysts credit BLS International with having capitalised on this opportunity effectively, ultimately emerging as a serious global player in the segment.
But the BLS story today is not just about seizing opportunities, both within the country and abroad, in visa processing and consular services. There are other layers to it. Its e-services platform appears to be an extension of its core business, partnering with government agencies to facilitate and provide a plethora of services. Both BLS International and BLS E-Services are publicly listed entities, and there has been a spate of acquisitions to consolidate their respective domains. Post-Covid, the group has delivered robust numbers, and internationally, it has been actively taking control of setups that were previously based on local partnership models. It is now increasingly aligned with a self-managed approach, wherever regulatory provisions permit. This transition necessitates greater revenue and improved margins, reflecting growing confidence in its strategy. “The next 5 years will be nothing short of transformative as we drive a bold 10x growth trajectory, powered by cutting-edge technology, strategic alliances and an unwavering commitment to service excellence,” says Diwakar Aggarwal.
Taking the service lane
Before delving into BLS International’s journey and its core business in visa processing, it is worth briefly exploring how this sector has evolved. Industry observers will tell you that the foundational template for this line of service was created in India, with credit largely attributed to travel industry veteran Zubin Karkaria, who founded VFS in 2001 while leading Kuoni Travels. It all began with a pilot project in Mumbai on behalf of the US embassy. Over the past 24 years, the company has grown into a major global entity and the market leader in the segment it pioneered. Now headquartered in Dubai, VFS saw private equity giant Blackstone acquire a majority stake in 2021, and last October, Singapore-based investment firm Temasek also agreed to join in, acquiring a 17-18 per cent stake at an enterprise valuation of $7 billion.
The point is: VFS was a trailblazer, setting the course for the industry. Companies like BLS International have successfully capitalised on this emerging market as it expanded. According to a research report, the global visa services market size was estimated at $3.92 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $15.89 billion by 2033, exhibiting a CAGR of 14.3 per cent during the forecast period. The industry comprises a few dominant global players – VFS Global, BLS International, TLScontact, CGI, and GDIT –alongside numerous regional players in different geographies.
BLS International’s emergence as a prominent player in the visa and consular services industry has an interesting backstory. Diwakar Aggarwal, originally part of a successful polymer compound manufacturing family business, was eager to enter a promising service-oriented industry. “At the time, generating substantial margins in polymer compound manufacturing was quite challenging. So he wanted to get into a solid service business and began exploring visa and consular services by reaching out to embassies. They initially asked if we could handle background verifications, and that’s how things started rolling for us,” says Shikhar Aggarwal, who joined the business in 2014 and now spearheads its operations. The company’s first major breakthrough came with the Portuguese embassy in Delhi around 2006, when it was asked to deploy a team for document verification within the embassy premises. This was soon followed by a similar contract with the Greek embassy.
“Initially, the volume wasn’t sufficient to generate a decent profit,” Shikhar points out. However, around the same time, the Indian government also began seeking private partners for visa processing at its embassies abroad. This presented an opportune moment for BLS International, which was looking to move beyond its preliminary steps. “The Indian government wanted these services not only for foreigners looking to visit India but also for the Indian diaspora requiring consular services in places like the Middle East. Thus, they introduced an outsourcing model, and we secured our first major contract in 2008 with the Indian embassy in Kuwait, where we set up three offices across different cities,” Shikhar explains, adding that this contract gave the company its first real insight into the revenue potential of the industry.
You could certainly call the period between 2005 and 2015 the phase of foundational growth for BLS International. As a trusted partner of the Indian government, this period saw the opening of visa application centres in the UAE and Southeast Asia, the addition of seven Indian Missions, including those in the USA and Canada, and the Consulate General of India in Hong Kong, as well as the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For other governments, its portfolio began expanding after securing the Portuguese contract, providing services to Austria, Belgium, Greece, Romania, and Tunisia in India, and initiating four missions for an EU country.
By 2015, the company had firmly established its presence, and between 2016 and 2021, it went on to secure even more prestigious projects. These included 11 additional locations for attestation and apostille services for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the Global Visa Contract for Spain, the Embassy of Vietnam in India, the Embassy of Lebanon in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Bangladesh, the Brazilian Embassy in Lebanon, Portugal visa applications in Russia from 27 locations, and the Brazilian Embassy in China. Among these, the Global Visa Contract for Spain, as Shikhar points out, was a true game-changer that propelled the company into the big league, opening new doors. Today, the company boasts a well-diversified portfolio.
“We can now proudly say that we work with more than 40 government clients in 70 countries. This market is now divided among three players – VFS Global, we are the second-largest player, and then there is TLScontact, a French company. It is a very proud moment for us that a company based in Delhi is handling global travel,” Shikhar maintains.
Adding another service line
Around the middle of the previous decade, as BLS International was laying the groundwork for long-term expansion, it also decided to venture into a new domain – digital services in the domestic market. In 2016, the company entered this space to tap into the growing opportunities in the G2C sector within India. This involved establishing a widespread network of touchpoints across the country, including rural and semi-urban areas. This new vertical was built around three core service lines: business correspondent services, governance assistance, and assisted e-commerce services.
The business correspondent services primarily involve acting as a bank’s representative in remote areas where physical branches are unavailable. The range of services includes customer enrolment, assistance with opening bank accounts, balance inquiries, money transfers, and passbook updates. Its e-governance portfolio offers services such as issuing birth and death certificates, facilitating PAN and other registrations, assisting with property registrations, land record management, and conducting quality checks for the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Under its assisted e-services portfolio, the company, in collaboration with retailers and local digital stores, provides various services, including POS and ticketing solutions.
“We started this unit in 2016, based on the idea that visa and consular services are also a form of citizen service. We saw an opportunity to build a strong business around the growing demand for G2C services in India. There are 850 types of services in the G2C space, and we believed it could be successfully leveraged,” explains Lokanath Panda of BLS E-Services. He adds that the foundational assumptions behind forming a separate entity within the group have proven to be correct.
The company’s latest investor presentation highlights its role in providing business correspondent services on behalf of leading institutions such as the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, HDFC, Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, and Gramin Utkal Bank. In terms of e-governance initiatives, its digital services have now reached over 50 districts across India, including 12 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 15 districts each in Karnataka and Gujarat, and the remaining in Rajasthan and West Bengal. Similarly, with over 1.36 lakh touchpoints and 1,000 digital stores, BLS Digital Services offers its assisted e-services across five states. Earlier this year, the digital services unit successfully completed an IPO, raising Rs301 crore, which was oversubscribed by a staggering 162 times.
Strategic moves
On the performance front, the group and its two well-defined business units have demonstrated strong growth in recent years. From a revenue base of approximately Rs450 crore at the end of FY15, the company has expanded more than threefold. It concluded FY24 with a consolidated revenue figure of Rs1,677 crore. In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, its revenue reached Rs1,500.5 crore, marking a 22.1 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. During the same period, the group’s profit after tax (PAT) surged by 64 per cent, reaching nearly Rs400 crore.
The revenue contribution ratio between the two business units is broadly in the range of 80:20. In the visa and consular services segment, the total volume of applications in the first nine months of the current fiscal year saw a sharp increase of 29 per cent, reaching 27.69 lakh, compared to 21.51 lakh applications during the same period last year. Additionally, the company has witnessed remarkable growth in per-application earnings, which have surged by 38 per cent over the same period, rising from Rs2,029 to Rs2,797.
Meanwhile, on a smaller base, the digital services division has experienced even more rapid expansion. The company reported an impressive 87 per cent increase in Q3 FY25 earnings for this division. Over the full nine-month period, its revenue grew by 23 per cent, nearing Rs300 crore.
The investor presentation highlights several key achievements that underscore the group’s strong credentials, including the processing of 360 million applications, a presence in over 70 countries, and partnerships with 46 government clients worldwide.
BLS International appears keen to further accelerate its growth, as reflected in the series of acquisitions it has made in recent times. The company has been in the news for two major overseas acquisitions: IDATA in Turkey and Citizenship Invest in Dubai. According to Shikhar, these acquisitions align well with BLS International’s strategic vision, given their respective strengths. For instance, IDATA (previously owned by Italians) operates in 15 countries, handling visa processing for Italian, Czech, and German missions. Its revenue stands at around $20 million. With this acquisition, Turkey has become one of BLS International’s key global centres.
Citizenship Invest is a leading player in the emerging sector of citizenship-by-investment schemes. The company holds contracts with over 20 governments that offer citizenship or long-term visas in exchange for substantial investments. It generates revenue of approximately $10 million, opening up a completely new and high-value domain for BLS. Both these entities have positive EBITDA, which is another significant advantage. Meanwhile, to consolidate its digital services operations, the company acquired a 57 per cent stake in Aadifidelis Solutions, a loan processing and solutions firm, following its successful IPO last year. “In 2022, we acquired Zeromass, which was the largest business correspondent partner within the SBI network. Now, we have taken a majority stake in Aadifidelis at a valuation of Rs190 crore. These are important additions that will further strengthen our operational base, which had already reached a sizeable scale with 130 million transactions last year,” says Lokanath. “We have invested close to Rs1,500 crore in acquisitions,” adds Shikhar.
The inclusion of established businesses like IDATA and Citizenship Invest is expected to provide a significant boost to BLS International’s financial performance by the end of the current fiscal year. Another major driver of financial growth will be the company’s strategy of transitioning from a partnership model to a self-managed centres model across the globe. In its early years, the company expanded into several geographies through local collaborations. However, as Shikhar points out, regulatory norms are now becoming more relaxed in various regions, giving BLS the flexibility to operate its own centres. Needless to say, this transition allows the company to retain all earnings.
Given the promising outlook, BLS International is aiming to reach even greater heights. It is optimistic that its digital services will soon find markets beyond India, further strengthening its global footprint. “We are certainly looking at new opportunities in the digital space, as G2C services are gaining momentum worldwide. We could expand into areas such as driving licences and government utilities, where authorities are looking to outsource services. The US government alone awards contracts worth $300-400 billion to private companies for various citizen-centric activities. We will explore ways to expand our service portfolio through the centres we have established across the globe,” Shikhar explains, while emphasising that the company will continue to seek acquisitions that complement its business. The ambition to make the most of both worlds – visa and consular services alongside digital expansion – is clear, and this dual approach may well become the key driver of its growth in the medium term.