Dell Inc. plans to double the number of its employees in India to 20,000 in three years, Chairman Michael Dell said Monday, in what appeared to be moves by the world’s largest personal computer maker to beef up its presence in one of the world’s fastest growing markets.

Although most of the new hiring will be made at the company’s call centers, there will also be substantial recruitment at the its product testing center and a possible manufacturing plant.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company currently operates four call centers in India, a product testing center for corporate customers and a global software development center. Some 10,000 people are employed at these facilities.

“We will double our staff from the current level over the next three years,” Dell told reporters during a visit to Bangalore, India’s technology hub.

“There is a fantastic opportunity to attract talent (here),” he said. “We will ensure a major recruitment push in engineering talents.”

Scores of Western companies have been cutting costs by shifting software development, engineering design and routine office functions to countries such as India, where English-speaking workers are plentiful and wages are low.

But Dell’s plans don’t appear to be limited to cost cutting, analysts said. They said Dell appears intent on increasing its share in India’s fast-growing market for computers.

The company is also looking to set up a manufacturing center in India, a move that could help boost the sale of Dell computers here.

“We have been in discussions with a number of state governments in terms of infrastructure and logistics. We are yet to make a decision on the location of the plant,” Dell said. He declined to give any timeframe for a decision.

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