HSBC is planning to hire 3,000 people in its data processing centre at Salt Lake in Kolkata.

It is the fifth group service centre of HSBC for its global back office jobs. Currently, HSBC has service centres in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Vishakhapatnam.

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The chief operating officer of HSBC Holdings Plc, A W Jebson, said in Kolkata on Tuesday at the inauguration of the centre that the Salt Lake group service centre would initially employ 500 people.

Gradually, the head count would be raised depending on the requirement.

The group service centre was inaugurated by the state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Tuesday.

Jebson said that the Kolkata centre would mainly do the data entry and other related back office jobs.

He argued that HSBC had chosen Kolkata for group service centre as it felt there was no dearth of efficient manpower in the city.

"The quality of manpower here is really rich," he said.

He pointed out that China, Philippines, Malaysia and Sri Lanka were some of the other countries where the bank had group service centres.

Earlier, after inaugurating the centre, the chief minister admitted that West Bengal was a late starter in the information technology & IT enables services sectors.

Bhattacharjee claimed that the state was fast catching up with the leaders among Indian states in the field.

"In the next three years, we want to be in the top slot in revenue generation from IT & ITES," he said.

Bhattacharjee said the government was giving special emphasis on IT education.

"We need quality manpower in this field and IT education is a must," he added.

In a parallel development, HSBC said it was likely to consult with its asset management arm for investing in asset reconstruction business in India.

Incidentally, the finance ministry has recently okayed FDI in asset reconstruction companies.

The chief operating officer of HSBC Holdings, A W Jebson informed that HSBC board would meet in Mumbai on November 25.

It was likely to discuss the issue of investing in ARC in India along with other issues.

"We shall discuss our growth strategy for next 10 years in India at the board meeting," the COO said.