SAP AG, the euro 7.4-billion global major in business software solutions, has committed to invest and expand its operations in India, which has emerged as one of the top three markets in the Asia-Pacific region, including China.

On his first visit to India, SAP CEO Henning Kagermann announced in Bangalore on Monday that its wholly-owned subsidiary would be doubling its employee strength from 1000 currently in three years' time to increase its market share and outsource a lot more software development for its global customers.

"To be competitive today, innovation is essential, and India has been at the forefront of setting benchmarks in the industry with world-class IT development and an impressive talent pool.

"As the largest development hub for SAP outside Germany, the Indian support centre will be expanded into a global support centre to serve our customers, worldwide," Kagermann declared.

Rating India as one of the top three countries in Asia, Kagermann said Indian IT industry had maintained its growth momentum due to innovation even in the face of challenging economic times.

"Our expansion plan includes a world class facility in Bangalore, being set up at a cost of euro 20 million. The subsidiary's SAP Labs will undertake global research and development of products and services for our customers in the sub-continent and other markets," Kagermann stated.

The India support centre will focus on providing services for advance products such as SAP NetWeaver, SAP Web Application Server and SAP Enterprise Portal.

Out of the 23 software suites SAP has for products and services in the enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and supply chain management, new versions and applications for 16 of them are being developed in India.

"SAP Labs India has traversed a sharp growth curve to emerge as a strategic solution development centre for our global operations. We are committed to develop and integrate new initiatives, technologies, and solutions into mySAP suite of solutions for small to medium and large organisations," Kagermann stated.

Being the largest SAP facility in the Asia-Pacific region, the India centre caters to about 400 customers in diverse verticals, including manufacturing, processing industry, services and infrastructure sector.

With a first move advantage SAP India commands about 60 per cent of the ERP market and around 29 per cent of the CRM market in the sub-continent.

"SAP will continue to provide industry-specific solutions to address pressing business issues faced by organisations in key vertical sectors, including process industries such as oil and gas, discrete manufacturing, consumer products, and aerospace and defence," said Alan Sedghi, president and managing director for Indian operations.

As part of its commitment to India, SAP has also set up its consulting division to provide new solutions to its customers.

"This is being expanded to offer the consulting services to our global customers too," joint managing director Clas Neumann affirmed.

Some of the top companies using SAP products in India include ONGC, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Power, Indian Oil, ITC, Ranbaxy, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, L&T, ICICI, Asian Paints, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

To consolidate its presence in the sub-continent, SAP is also aggressively targeting the small and medium business segment through partners and resellers.

"We are working with an elite group of partners with domain expertise to provide marketing, implementation, and services to the SMB segment, which is growing equally well," Neumann said.