Microsoft plans Indian centre

Microsoft Corp plans to set up a software development centre in India, the first large centre outside the United States.

'We should come out with an announcement by the end of the year,' Orlando Ayala, Microsoft's vice-president for inter-continental operations, said.

Microsoft is investing US$80 million to establish a research laboratory at Cambridge University, aimed at developing computer technologies.

Mr Ayala said the Indian centre could be used to develop a new breed of software, possibly unrelated to earlier work.