The United States-based open source operating system software company Red Hat on Wednesday said tremendous growth opportunities posed by the Indian marketplace could result in the company upping its headcount to anywhere between 250 to 700 in the next 36 months.
"Our India headcount is currently less than 100, but looking at the marketplace, this figure could well be anywhere between 250-700 people over the next 36 months," Matthew Szulik, CEO of Red Hat, told reporters on the sidelines of a talk on Linux operating system, organised by hardware industry association Manufacturers Association of Information Technology.
Szulik, on his first visit to India, said he is looking for opportunities for investing part of $600 million.
"The purpose of my visit to India comes on our successful fund raising of $600 million. This is my first trip to India and the company is looking for opportunities to invest in strategic areas of government, education and private sector," he said.
He, however, said the company has not allocated any funds for Indian marketplace.
As to when the investment would come, he said: "It could happen in the next 12 months."
Szulik's visit is aimed at prompting the government to use open source software against the proprietary software, citing the criteria of security and affordability.