India becomes R&D hot spot as firms cut costs

BANGALORE: At Microsoft's research centre in a leafy lane in India's tech capital, a new generation of researchers are being groomed half a world away from the software giant's sprawling headquarters in Seattle.

Complete with beanbags and coffee served in steel tumblers, the centre is helping change the perception that India is no place for top-end research and development.

Staffed with about 60 full-time researchers, many of them Indians with PhDs from top universities in the United States, the centre is at the cutting edge of Microsoft's R&D. It covers seven areas of research including mobility and cryptography.