LT INFOTECH, the Indian IT services and solutions group, is to establish a multi-million pound European software development centre in Belfast which will create 85 jobs.
The new centre, which will be located in the Northern Ireland Science Park, will be involved in development work and will also provide maintenance services for LT Infotech’s European and global client base.
The Indian group is a subsidiary of Mumbai-headquartered Larsen Toubro, the multi-billion dollar technology to construction conglomerate. Its clients include industry giants such as Chevron, Hitachi, Sanyo and Lafarge.
Invest Northern Ireland has offered LT Infotech financial assistance totalling £891,000 (€1,081,082) towards the cost of the project.
It is hoped the Indian group, which has 12,000 employees worldwide, will generate high-quality jobs in the North from graduate level to highly-experienced software engineers and software developers over the next three years. Sudip Banerjee, the chief executive of LT Infotech, believes the new centre will be “strategically important”.
“We are confident that we will find in Northern Ireland the technical and professional skills that we need and we look forward to developing our presence here,” Mr Banerjee said.
The North’s enterprise minister Arlene Foster is confident that the investment will deliver a significant upturn for the Northern Ireland economy.
“This mobile investment was not an easy win, but Invest NI succeeded in securing it for Northern Ireland against direct competition from the US, the Philippines and South America.
“It is estimated that when fully implemented, the centre will generate annual salaries of £2.9 million, a welcome boost to the local economy,” the minister added.
But the hard-won investment comes as a local firm warns that up to 85 jobs are under serious threat in Derry. The Foyle Food Group has confirmed its intention to close a lamb-processing plant in Campsie because of a shortage of lambs to slaughter. The group said it is in talks with the Unite union in a bid to minimise job losses.
