Microsoft Inks Tech Deals With India's Infosys, Wipro

The deals will enable Infosys and Wipro to use Microsoft technologies to build software for their clients.

Infosys and Microsoft said they would together invest $8 million in the new venture, while Wipro, which also concluded a similar deal, declined to specify the investment.

"I am excited with what is going on here in India," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told reporters after signing the deals.

Ballmer said Microsoft will hire hundreds more people in India in the coming months, but didn't give more specific figures.

Earlier Monday, Ballmer opened a Microsoft office in Hyderabad, 340 miles north of Bangalore, India's leading high-tech hub. About 1,500 Microsoft employees, mostly software programmers, have worked out of a rented building in Hyderabad's outskirts.

The new Microsoft campus, its largest outside the United States, will eventually house 3,000 programmers. Microsoft is one of dozens of American technology companies that have set up research and development centers in India, taking advantage of its vast pool of skilled workers who can be hired for a fraction of the cost in the United States.

"As one of the world's fastest-growing information technology markets, India has long been a strategically important region for Microsoft," Ballmer said.

Ballmer's three-day visit, which began Monday, is aimed at boosting the company's presence in India. He is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other top government officials on Tuesday in New Delhi. He will also meet with business leaders in Bombay before flying back on Wednesday.

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