Despite intense lobbying in the US and several European countries against outsourcing infotech-enabled services and transferring infotech operations, around 54,000 new business process outsourcing jobs are slated to be created in India in the next six months.

According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies, 65,000 new BPO jobs -- more than a third of the total -- happened in the six months from January to June and the growth will continue. The sector will employ 225,000 people six months from now, against 171,100 now.

According to Frost & Sullivan, a consultancy firm, the call centre services market itself is set to grow from $237.7 million in 2002 to $753.7 million in 2008.

Several American companies have substantially upscaled backoffice operations in India in 2003. GE, which has the largest ITES operations in India among US companies, has been adding about 700 people every month to its rolls for the past six months.

According to a Nasscom estimate, the firm now employs close to 15,000 people for its ITES operations, up from 11,000 in the beginning of the year.

Convergys, a leading global ITES firm, has also steadily ramped up its operations in India, adding close to 1,300 people in the past six months.

The world's largest personal computer maker, Dell, has raised the headcount at its India-based global help-desk from 2,200 to 3,200 in the period.

Consultancy firm Accenture has taken on around 1,500 people in 2003, taking its staff strength to 2,000. Accenture's country managing director Sanjay Jain told Business Standard the hiring spree was unlikely to slow in the months to come.

Hewlett-Packard is relocating call centres from Australia to the Bangalore-based Digital GlobalSoft, of which it owns 51 per cent stake.

According to Accenture's Jain, the advantages of outsourcing to India have led these companies to increase their numbers in the country despite opposition back home. "Shareholders are all for outsourcing to India," Jain explained.

"The phenomenon of offshoring cannot be reversed. What we are witnessing is a change in the way businesses are evolving in an increasing global marketplace," Sujay Chohan, India head of Gartner, the global research firm, pointed out.

Not just call centres, US companies also continue to expand their infotech operations in the country.

SAP Labs India, the development arm of SAP AG, is investing $20 million for a new campus at Bangalore devoted to global research and development.

Its workforce will consist of 750 professionals in the first phase and 1,100 in the second, against 600 employed now.

JP Morgan Chase, which handles its global key transaction process services from its centres in India, has added about 100 people in the past six months, taking its staff strength to 400.

Computer Associates has plans to increase the number of employees at its service centre in India from 120 to 200 by the year-end.

Ninad Kapre, managing director (India and Saarc), Computer Associates, said, "We will be steadily growing our support service centre, started in 2000, to a substantial scale in future."

The India advantages

• Cost savings of 40-60%
• Quality improvement of 3-8%
• Productivity improvement of 20-150%

Source: Nasscom-McKinsey Report