NEW DELHI, Dec 10: Chinese telecom giant ZTE’s IT arm ZTEsoft will invest up to USD 40 million (about Rs 245 crore) in India next year to set up an innovation centre and hire 300 people in a bid to ramp-up operations and increase presence in the world’s second largest mobile user country.
At present, ZTEsoft — a subsidiary of telecom equipment major ZTE Corporation — manages software services for BSNL in three zones, nine circle operations of Sistema Shyam and two circles of Idea Cellular.
“We will invest USD 30-40 million in India in setting-up an innovation centre, which initially will cater to South Asia and India and later will be a global centre,” ZTEsoft CEO Ben Zhou told reporters.
The company expects a major boost in business when contracts of European vendors in most of the service areas with some leading operators expire, ZTEsoft’s Senior Vice President Nie said.
On the hiring plans of the company, Nie said: “We are building capacity in India and to cater to the demand, we will hire about 300 Indian people more in a year.”
Presently, it has about 100 people working directly with it, which include Indians and Chinese in equal numbers.
On growth in business, ZTEsoft Deputy Director Prasoon Sharma said: “The volume of business is going to be huge when consolidation starts in telecom sector. While, we will have our workforce, we will also take help from Indian partners to handle projects.”
The company has also partnered with Indian IT companies Tech Mahindra, Wipro and TCS for system integration, he added.
“Besides, some Indian telecom operators are in discussion with us for handling their IT needs. They are finding European vendors expensive,” Sharma said.
The company expects to double its India revenues to USD 160 million by March 2014. It had posted USD 80 million revenue from India in December 2012. (AGENCIES)
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