Nasdaq-listed iGATE will invest $1 million to open a new facility in Loudoun County in Washington DC, which will create 250 new jobs over the next 2-3 years.

Increasing visa costs and access to government projects have prompted iGATE to open a development centre in the US. In this development centre, the company will design, build and operate US Federal Government-related outsourcing projects. Additionally, it will create 250 new jobs over the next two to three years, according to company officials.

According to US laws, federal government projects cannot be done out of the US for security purposes. Some other reasons for iGATE to open a development centre in the US are political proximity and adequate skilled technical manpower. This is the fourth facility in the US for iGATE.

“This facility enhances our ability to deliver top-quality, innovative IT solutions to our government customers,” said Timothy Coffin, President, iGate Government Solutions.

Washington DC, which has 900 federal government contractors, employs 20 per cent of the county’s IT workforce, according to Loudoun county officials.

In an election year in the US, the topic of jobs in the US is increasingly coming to the fore and this investment by iGate will help to quell concerns around Indian companies taking away US jobs, according to industry watchers. “Also, Indian IT companies have to be more global and clients are increasingly asking them to deliver out of different geographies,” said Sanjoy Sen, Senior Director, Deloitte.

Companies such as HCL Technologies plans to create 10,000 jobs by 2015 in the US and European markets and others such as WNS Holdings set up an office in South Carolina from July. Similarly, TCS, Infosys and Wipro have a presence in the American continent.

venkatesh.ganesh@thehindu.co.in

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