The Silicon Valley of India, Hyderabad, houses a pool of talent and is by far the most industrially developed state. Its comprehensive infrastructure facilities makes Hyderabad one of the most sought after base for software development. So much so that Microsoft has identified prospects of establishing its base here. Next to Redmond, Hyderabad will be the center of  all software development by Microsoft.

  This is mainly due to the thrust that the State Government headed by  Mr. Chandrababu Naidu places towards the software industry.

  Hyderabad and Hi-Tec City, promoted by a proactive government, is fast  moving towards being the hub of IT professionals worldwide. The step taken  by Microsoft goes a long way in proving the opportunities that exist here.

Microsoft to open India software development centre

  Microsoft Corp said it would open a software development centre in India, only its second outside the company's US headquarters.  The new cente will open later this year in the city of Hyderabad in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, company executives said ahead of an announcement.  The primary reason we are doing this is the availability of a large amount of talent in India, said Somasegar, who will oversee work at the new development office from Microsoft headquarters.   Mr Somasegar said the centre initially would be staffed with 25 employees, most to be  hired locally, and would focus on ensuring Microsoft's Windows NT and BackOffice software can operate with programs developed by other companies.  The Indian centre is expected to grow, but Mr Somasegar declined to make any   projections.

   Microsoft Corp's Chief Executive Bill Gates and other software executives have  complained in recent years of a shortage of software engineers in the United States, exacerbated by a limited number of visas available to bring workers from overseas.  While Microsoft's corporate culture stresses the centrality of its suburban Seattle  corporate campus in recent years Mr Gates has acknowledged the need to open satellites elsewhere to attract talented engineers and research scientists.

    Microsoft has been expanding in California's Silicon Valley and is opening a research centre in Cambridge, England. Still 14,000 of the company's 25,000 employees, including nearly all its 1,700 software development positions, are located in Seattle's  Redmond area.

  The company's only other software development centre is a seven-year-old site in Israel with about 60 full-time employees, said Moshe Dunie, a Microsoft vice-president.

  Microsoft will get tax incentives and other benefits offered by Andhra Pradesh to attract  foreign investment, Mr Somasegar said.