Microsoft to invest USD 1.7 Billion more in India

Microsoft to invest USD 1.7 Billion more in India

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is currently on a tour of India. And with his arrival comes the news of big investments from Microsoft in their Indian operations. The company has announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in India over four years and employ another 3,000 people. They plan to expand their operations in the fast-growing software player.

Half of this fresh investment would go into its existing research and development center, its global software delivery unit and expanding to 33 more cities by opening retail outlets. Gates was addressing a media gathering when he responded: “We have about 4,000 people (in the Microsoft’s Indian Operations); we would be growing that by 3,000 over the next several years.”

The company is aiming to tap into the India’s booming $17.2 billion software services industry, which is popular worldwide for its skilled workers at costs far below average Western salaries. Gates also said that the company would focus on research to help the spread of low-cost computing in India. This should help improve the PC penetration here in India.

Microsoft is just the latest US based technology giants to announce fresh investments in the Indian operations. Intel and AMD recently unveiled their decision to invest heavily in India. Cisco is another company working towards expanding their Indian operations.