Indian outsourcer Infosys expands in China

Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest software and services outsourcer, announced Wednesday that it has signed a letter of intent with the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park to set up a new software development campus in Shanghai.

Over the next two years, Infosys will invest $10 million to set up the center, which will have seating capacity for 1,000 engineers. The new facility will be in addition to the facility the company already has at the Shanghai Pudong Software Park, which employs about 250 people, according to a company spokeswoman.

The new center will undertake projects in software development, IT services and business process outsourcing services, according to a statement Wednesday by the company. The center, which is expected to start in January, will also be a staff training and research center for Infosys.

A number of key Indian software and services outsourcers are expanding their operations in China both with an eye to the domestic Chinese market for IT services, and to service the operations in China of some of its multinational customers.

India’s largest software and services outsourcer, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) announced in June that it was setting up an IT outsourcing services joint venture in China with Microsoft, two software parks in the country and a Chinese software company, Uniware Co. in Beijing. The joint venture is to provide IT outsourcing services and solutions to all major worldwide markets including U.S., Europe, China, and the rest of the Asia Pacific region, according to TCS.