Cognizant to invest $60 m in India by '06

Cognizant, IT service provider, will invest around $16 million in India by the end of 2006 to build its own facilities and resources.

The Nasdaq-listed company, which has a couple of leased facilities, will look at setting up own operations in Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore.

"Increasing our presence and investment in India would help in providing better services to our global clients, mainly pharmaceuticals and financial sector customers," said Lakshmi Narayanan, president and chief executive officer, Cognizant in a press conference today.

The company will also add 7,700 professionals globally in 2005,of which 3,900 has already been added during the first two quarters. However, specific India figures were not revealed.

Cognizant also opened its Mumbai Development Centre at the Hiranandani IT Park in Powai. The centre would employing around 100 staffs initially, which will be later increased to over 400 in the first year of operations.

"Mumbai is a location and the centre will function on the lines of the existing ones we have in Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Coimbatore," Narayanan said.

The new centre will strengthen its ability to provide increasing value to pharmaceutical and financial services to customers, tapping the talent pool available in those industries, he said, adding, the company currently partners with 5 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies.

The new centre with a 75,000 square feet has the capacity to accommodate about 750 professionals.