Microsoft is the latest top IT supplier to announce big
investment plans in India, this time to the tune of $1.7bn (£1bn)
over four years.
The investment was announced by Microsoft chief software
architect Bill Gates on a four day visit to the country this
week.
Earlier in the week Intel announced it would be spending over
$1bn in India over the next five years. And shortly before this,
Cisco announced it would be spending a further $1.1bn over three
years.
All three companies intend ramping up their research and
development operations in the country, boosting training for
existing staff and increasing overall headcounts.
Intel also said it would invest $250m of its overall outlay in a
venture capital fund to help and start up new Indian IT
companies.
Gates said Microsoft planned to increase its staff in India from
the current 4,000 to 7,000 over the next three to four years. Some
of these may be employed by companies that do work on behalf of
Microsoft.
Outsourcer EDS expects to double the size of its headcounts in
India and China over the next two to three years, as it axes staff
in the US and across Europe.
EDS currently has between 15,000 and 20,000 in the two Asian
countries, and in September 2004 EDS announced redundancies of up
to 20,000, mainly in the US and Europe.