India is a democracy of one billion people, and economic reform is a consensus shared by its many political parties. They have been quick to embrace free market enterprise, which has attracted a number of American corporations, including General Electric, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, and Microsoft, to name a few.

Bangalore, the location of Acusis' Indian headquarters, is known as the "Silicon Valley of India." The city is a vast entrepreneurial haven, not only to the software engineering industry, but also hosting companies in a variety of other industries, including: aeronautical engineering, research & development, agriculture and biochemistry.

Companies across the globe are coming to realize the opportunity India presents, and are wasting no time in acting. Siemens of Germany, a company which produces and sells power plants, electric meters, hi tech medical equipment and mobile phones has big plans for India. According to CEO Heinrich Von Pierer, "We are going to make new investments in India to the extent of $500 million in the years to come."

The Siemens group in India has 12 subsidiaries employing 10,000 people with combined sales of $650 million, more than six times the sales recorded a decade ago. The company, which also deals in infrastructure projects like airports and highways, plans to build an airport in Bangalore. Siemens plans to set up more hardware and software development centers there.

With the phenomenal expansion of the country's software industry, many Indian policy makers are predicting significant growth rates in the years to come.

References:

1) The Wall Street Journal Online, 3/7/02, 3/12/02.