SAS plans huge R&D hub in Pune

SAS, global leaders in business intelligence solutions, on Friday announced setting up of its largest research and development centre in Pune, as it expects the Indian market to grow by 27 per cent and generate $87.4 billion worth business by 2009.

SAS, whose domestic clients include RBI, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Bank [ Get Quote ], GE capital, Citibank NA, HDFC Bank [ Get Quote ], Hindustan Lever Ltd [ Get Quote ], Pfizer [ Get Quote ], Novartis [ Get Quote ] and GlaxoSmithKline [ Get Quote ], is coming up with a 1.75 lakh sq foot R&D centre that would ramp up the operations of its global R&D division - SAS Global Services.

"This investment reinforces our belief in India," Jim Goodnight, CEO, SAS said, while announcing the new initiative. The proposed unit would become the biggest R&D centre of the company outside US. The company is also looking for partnerships with Indian IT companies in order to deliver the latest business intelligence solutions to the Indian customers, he said.

India's business Intelligence market is growing at an annual rate of 27 per cent and is expected to surpass $87.4 million by the end of 2009.