Kolkata: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has decided to revise its annual recruitment target from around 3,000 to 4,500 following the improvement in the IT outsourcing market.

Along with its revised recruitment plans, the company has decided to set up a second development centre in Kolkata. This will be the 16th development centre of TCS in the country.

According to TCS vice-president - corporate communications Atul Takle, the company determines the recruitment figure three to four months before the beginning of the new fiscal. This year, there has been an increase in the number of outsourcing jobs coming to Indian software companies. This has led to revision of the targets and setting up of a new development centre in Kolkata, he said. The recruitment will include both freshers and experienced professionals.

The recruitment will be for projects in areas like e-business, telecom and banking.

"Our plan for recruitment was against the backdrop of the 9/11 incident and the travel advisories issued by the US and EU. But as the US economy is still struggling and the signs of recovery are still not strong, the foreign companies are working under cost pressure. This has forced them to outsource IT jobs to the Indian companies. TCS has been a beneficiary of this trend," Mr Takle said.

For its existing Kolkata centre, TCS will recruit another 500 people. The current strength at the Kolkata centre is 1616 people. TCS will service UK energy utility company United Utilities at the centre.

Said Mr Takle, "The total business will be around Rs 220 crore and we will start servicing the IT needs of this company from the Kolkata centre. We need new people to service new projects which will be spread over a period of two to three years."

TCS also plans to conduct part of the $100 million GE Medical Systems BPO contract from Kolkata.

Said Mr Takle, "The proposal for the new centre is lying with chief executive officer S Ramadorai for his clearance. It will take around one and a half years to complete the second centre after getting the clearance."

The new development centre in Kolkata will have a space of around 20,000 sq ft. The existing centre has around 25,000 sq ft.