SAP writes $1 bn expansion code

NEW DELHI: German software major SAP will invest $1 billion in India over the next five years and will jack up headcount to 8,000 in the same period, the company’s CEO Henning Kagermann said on Wednesday. It currently employs close to 3,000 people in the country and plans to raise the count to 4,000 by the year-end.

Focussing on India as one of the fastest growing markets in Asia Pacific, the company aims to have 15,000 customers and at least 100 successful e-governance and public sector projects by 2010, Kagermann declared. In line with this objective, it opened a new office in Gurgaon on Wednesday.

By the year-end, SAP Labs India would be contributing 20% of SAP’s global R&D, Kagermann said, adding, “we hope to further leverage India’s present performance as well as future potential through all our initiatives.”

Founded in November 1998, SAP Labs India has two centres in India - Bangalore and Gurgaon - and is SAP’s second largest R&D and global services and support centre.

The new office at Gurgaon would have 250 employees by the end of 2006, Kagermann said, adding, the expansion in Gurgaon was a strategic move aimed at bringing the company closer to customers in northern and eastern regions of the country.

The company plans to set up centres of excellence around key focus areas to provide a platform for SAP partners to showcase their capabilities. “The move is designed to sustain and build the partner ecosysytem SAP has in India,” Kagermann explained.