Japanese technology firm NTT Data plans to raise its India headcount by 5,000 employees in 2026 across software programming, consulting, and IT support, as per a report by Reuters.
The announcement of the hiring comes at a time when the IT sector is facing fears of layoffs and restructuring because of AI.
$100 million-plus IT deals double in 12 months: NTT Data exec
The Reuters report noted that large IT contracts of more than $100 million have doubled in the last 12 months, with deals stemming from manufacturing, logistics and the public sector, Sudhir Chaturvedi, chief growth officer and CEO of North America, said, according to Reuters.
“North America is back to growth, and we expect strong growth next financial year.”
Chaturvedi said clients’ tech budgets are expected to rise 7% to 9% this year on account of investments beyond AI, compared to 6% to 7% last year.
NTT Data expands India footprint with $1.5 billion data centre push
NTT Data, a subsidiary of telecom giant NTT Group, is building out four data centers in India as part of a $1.5 billion investment and currently employs 40,000 people in the country.
The announcement is significant as it coming at a time when India is betting big on AI. At the recent AI Summit held in Delhi in February, private and global companies announced $277 billion in investment into AI infrastructure – mostly for data centres.
Global and local firms are increasingly looking to boost data centre capacities in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had also entered the data-centre space by launching a dedicated subsidiary, HyperVault, to build and operate gigawatt-scale, AI-ready data centre infrastructure in partnership with global technology and energy players.
India holds 20% of global data but lacks data centre capacity
India hosts 20% of the world’s data but has less than 6% of global data centre capacity, according to ratings agency ICRA, making investments in the sector an attractive bet. The government has granted a tax holiday for foreign companies using local data centres.