The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft to invest $1.7 billion, add 3,000 jobs in India, Gates says

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft to invest $1.7 billion, add 3,000 jobs in India, Gates says: "NEW DELHI – Microsoft Corp. plans to invest $1.7 billion in India and add 3,000 jobs in the country over the next four years, nearly doubling the world's largest software company's work force here, Chairman Bill Gates said today.

Microsoft has long viewed India, a country of 1 billion people with a robust economy, as a potentially huge market, and the investment would be one of the single largest by an information technology company in India."..

ndian Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the planned investment was "an indicator of the value that Microsoft attaches to its development and R&D activities in the country."

Gates' announcement was the latest in a string of recently announced investments in India by American technology firms.

On Monday, chip-maker Intel Corp., based in Santa Clara, Calif., said it planned to invest more than $1 billion in the next five years to expand its operations in India and invest in local technology companies.

Cisco Systems Inc., based in San Jose, Calif., said in October that it plans to spend $1.1 billion in India over the next three years...