India Is Second Biggest Investor In Northern Ireland

Indian companies, rapidly spreading their wings abroad, emerged as the second biggest business investors in Northern Ireland in 2005-06, next only to those from the US. According to Lord Diljit Rana, honorary consul for India in Northern Ireland, prominent among the Indian firms investing nearly 30 million pounds in Northern Ireland are FirstSource, part of ICICI Bank of Mumbai, Polaris Software Lab of Chennai, and HCL-BPO. The investment is likely to create 1,000 new jobs. HCL-BPO operates the biggest independent customer contact centre in Northern Ireland, employing over 2,000 people at its operations in Belfast and Armagh.

FirstSource has recruited over 700 of the 1,000 people it intends to hire in its two customer contact centres in Belfast and Londonderry. By 2008, it plans to increase its workforce to 570 people at its Londonderry centre, with around another 400 jobs at its Belfast base. It is seeking to fill customer service advisors at both centres.Polaris has plans to hire around 150 people at a software development centre of excellence in Belfast. Lord Rana said in a statement: I am delighted that Indian companies are now recognising the immense potential of Northern Ireland as a platform for profitable growth within the enlarged European Community.