SAP, a global business software company, expects high growth in India in the next 4-5 years with more local companies, including small and medium enterprises, opting for IT solutions.

The company has a customer base of 2,000 in India. "India has the potential to be a large market for us. It is on the way to become a developed market like France and UK," SAP CEO Henning Kagermann said on Thursday after inaugurating a new development centre of the company here.

The Asia Pacific region contributes 13 per cent to SAP's revenue. The biggest market for the company is Europe (50 per cent) followed by the US (37 per cent).

"Scaling from 13 per cent to 20 per cent as we envision in APAC will be a huge effort. We expect both India and China to assist us in reaching our goal," he added.

The company is also looking at India as a talent hub. At present, SAP Labs India employs 3,500 professionals, the third largest after its Germany and US centres.

The new development centre in Bangalore can accommodate up to 2,000 employees.

However, the company did not reveal the hiring plans.

"Those decisions will be market-driven. The Bangalore centre will increase its contribution to product development," Kagermann said.