B.V. Naidu, director of Software Technology Parks of India, a government body that facilitates exports, said about 1,400 IT companies based in Bangalore clocked export revenues of 75 billion rupees (1.6 billion dollars) in the five months to August.

During the previous year software exports for the five months to August totalled 56 billion rupees. India's fiscal year starts April 1.

"Ninety-two new IT companies have set up base in Bangalore during the last six months with a total investment of 11 billion rupees," Naidu told reporters. "Out of them, 20 were outsourcing firms."

A host of foreign firms have set up Indian bases to take advantage of a vast pool of computer-literate, English-speaking workers who earn a fraction of their Western peers' wages.

Bangalore is home to companies such as Accenture, Cisco, General Electric, IBM, Intel, Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments.

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