According to AP resource, the India’s second-largest software company, Infosys Technologies Ltd., said Monday its planned inclusion on the Nasdaq-100 will help it become a mainstream stock in the United States and boost its global profile.

The company will be added to the U.S. stock exchange’s elite grouping when the market opens on Dec. 18. “This is one more step in our global journey,” Nandan Nilekani, the chief executive officer of Infosys, told reporters in Mumbai.

Although the United States is the company’s biggest market, Nilekani said he expects to attract more European companies seeking to become more competitive.

“European companies are facing the same pressure as companies around the world,” he said. “Global companies are seeking partnerships to become flatter and they seek us out.”

Nilekani said it was no longer just about being cheaper. “It’s not just about cost. We’re faster and better,” he said.

Western companies routinely transfer software development work to India because wages are low and skilled workers are plentiful.

V. Balakrishnan, chief financial officer at Infosys, said the company’s addition to the Nasdaq-100 also reflects India’s growth. One of the world’s fastest expanding economies after China, India’s has averaged 8 percent growth over the past few years.

“This is significant for Infosys and the country. It shows India has come of age and the world is recognizing India’s growth,” he said.

Reaching Nasdaq’s elite group will help raise the company’s image overseas since large global index funds could be interested in investing in Infosys.

“It helps build a strong brand outside India and with the U.S. being a very important market for us, it helps us become a mainstream stock in the U.S.,” Balakrishnan said.

Infosys’ inclusion follows the company’s sponsored secondary offering of 30 million American Depository Shares worth US$1.6 billion (euro1.2 billion). The offering, which closed last month, involved the sale of shares held by investors on Indian stock exchanges to investors in the U.S.

About 20 percent of Infosys shares are now traded on Nasdaq. The company was the first to list shares in the United States in 1999 and writes software for companies such as Goldman Sachs and J. C. Penny.

Companies such as Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Dell Inc. among the Nasdaq-100 list are chosen mostly on the basis of their market worth.

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