Dell wants to increase its 4% market share in India

Dell's president and CEO, Kevin Rollins, made the announcement after a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi.

It will take the total number of Dell employees in India up to 15,000.

Dell is also planning to set up a manufacturing facility in the country that will boost its 4% market share in India, Mr Rollins said.

'Vital role'

In April, the company will also be setting up its fourth Indian call centre in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon.

This call centre will have nearly 1,000 workers, Mr Rollins said.

Dell is planning to set up a manufacturing plant in India

"Our teams in India have integrated well with Dell's global operations," he said.

"As we continue to attract new customers worldwide, we have successfully expanded our global service network and our team in India has played a vital role."

Mr Rollins also said that by 2008 Dell will double the size of its India-based product development team in Bangalore city - the hub of IT in India.

The current team in Bangalore already has 300 product development managers.

Although Dell wants to set up a manufacturing unit in the country, the poor infrastructure may pose a problem, Mr Rollins said.

"We are looking for a suitable site to set up a manufacturing base.

"We would like the facility to come up sooner than later, though no time-frame has been set... but we are talking with [state] governments and partners."

He added that the company also wanted to benefit from the growing demand for desktop computers and laptops - at present Dell accounts for nearly 4% of the four million computers sold in India.