India's largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services is planning to consolidate all its business process outsourcing operations by spinning them off into a separate subsidiary.

The company will also invest over Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.50 billion) in setting up software development centres in the country.

The company has three BPO joint ventures, one with Swiss Airlines, another with Singapore Airlines and the third with HDFC.

"We have recently acquired Swiss Airlines' stake in the joint venture with them, and we are negotiating with the other two partners to buy their stakes," S Ramadorai, chief executive of TCS, said at a press conference here.

"TCS was among the early firms that have been doing billing and reconciliation jobs for overseas companies. These were not named as BPO units in those days. We will have a distinct visibility for our BPO operations now," Ramadorai, who was here to inaugurate the company's new development centre, said.

The new facility, named Deccan Park, has an investment of Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.50 billion), can seat 2,200 people and is spread over 11 acres.

The centre will develop technologies related to the .Net platform, open source software, bio-informatics, digital certification and embedded systems in telecommunications.

"The billing rates are stable now and the key component is offshoring," Ramadorai said of the current trend in the industry.