Dell revenues in India nearing $2b

NEW DELHI, Mar 22 (Reuters): Dell Inc's annual revenue in India is nearing $2 billion and the world's No 2 maker of personal computers plans to add more staff in the country, its chief executive said. "We are continuing to invest here and continuing to grow the business ... India for us is a critical part of our infrastructure globally," Michael Dell said at an event in the Indian capital Tuesday. He did not give the timeframe for the target or current annual revenue in India, where the company has a manufacturing operation near the southern city of Chennai. Last month, Dell's fourth quarter earnings and margins blew past Wall Street expectations as component costs slid and corporations replaced aging technology. The company forecast 5-9 per cent revenue growth for fiscal 2012, which ends in January 2012, which translates to revenue of $64 billion to $67 billion. Dell said that the company, which had 23,000 employees in India, was planning to add a "few thousand" people at its India operations over the next year or so. India is Dell's largest employee base outside the United States.