VMware to invest $2 billion in India over next 5 years

Leading enterprise software provider VMware on Wednesday announced it will invest $2 billion in India over the next five years towards expanding its facilities, increase headcount and ramp up research and development activities.

The investment, part of the company's overall global investment strategy will enable the company to support its growing sales operations in India, CEO Pat Gelsinger announced at an event here.

"India is a key cornerstone of our overall global investment strategy, providing outstanding engineering talent for our global R&D operations that are helping to drive innovation across our entire product portfolio," said Gelsinger.

Over the past 13 years, the Palo Alto, California-based VMware's operations across R&D, sales and marketing as well as business support services have expanded in India -- with more than 5,000 employees supporting its business locally and globally.

The primary India sites of VMware, whose parent company is Dell Technologies, include its facilities in Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai.

"VMware remains committed to providing innovative technologies that help drive our customers' digital transformation," added Gelsinger who was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.

"We are grateful for the current environment in India where VMware can continue to grow, invest and create jobs and opportunities for India's IT workers of today and tomorrow," the VMware CEO noted.

In 2014, Gelsinger had committed up to $500 million in India over the next three years to grow its operations in the country.

"India continues to play a crucial role in our global product roadmap and growth strategy. The country's outstanding engineering talent continues to impress us, and we stay committed to investing and growing our team here over the long term," said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer, VMware in a statement.

According to Arun Parameswaran, Vice President and Managing Director, VMware India, the company's initiatives in the country also support the government policies like "Digital India".

"India has a deep pool of talented, creative people that can help fuel our innovation now and in the future," he told the gathering.

According to the company, its site in Bengaluru -- which is currently under construction -- and a new VMware site in Pune will be developed to meet the Indian Green Building Council's (IGBC) platinum certification.

VMware also currently runs one of the largest fleets of electric carpool vehicles in Bengaluru, with more than 500 employees using this service everyday, reducing vehicle emissions in the city. In addition, more than 80 percent of the electricity used by its South Bengaluru sites is generated from wind power.

In partnership with the global non-profit Women Who Code, VMware also announced to train 15,000 women in India over the next two years in diverse technology areas, providing a platform for more women with previous experience in IT to upskill themselves in digital technologies.

The new programme, titled "VMware VMinclusion Taara: Women Return to Work", is expected to launch on December 1.

Several organisations like Bharti Airtel and Cognizant plan to support the programme and are open to a consideration process for relevant IT openings within their organisations for women certified in VMware solutions as a result of "Project Taara".

--IANS

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