Indian IT major HCL Technologies Ltd has decided to create 250 jobs in Northern Ireland as part of its call centre expansion plan, thus reversing the trend of outsourcing at a time when Britain is debating over offshoring of jobs to countries like India.

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The IT major will receive pound 9,20,000 in state aid through 'Invest NI' for the pound 1.9 million investment it is making in its BPO call centre operation in Belfast, HCL Technologies said.

"As Northern Ireland's first inward investment from India, HCL has become a successful role model for other Indian technology-driven companies seeking an attractive location to develop business within the newly-enlarged European Union," Barry Gardiner, a junior minister in Britain's Northern Ireland Office said.

In recent years the trend has been in the opposite direction, with more than 50,000 British jobs, particularly in call centres, moving to India as companies cut costs.