London (IANS): In a reversal of the trend of British companies opening call centres in India, Tech Mahindra has decided to open one in Britain.

The Indian IT company, considered India's sixth largest software exporter, will be opening the call centre at Jarrow, South Tyneside, and expects to create 500 jobs in three years.

"We are a global organisation. Our expansion plans are based on customer requirements. Here the customers and business opportunities coincided," Mahesh Nagaraj, Tech Mahindra's vice-president for strategic initiatives, was quoted as saying by The Financial Times during a visit to South Tyneside Friday.

The Tyneside regional development agency, One North East, will service the clients of Tech Mahindra. It will focus on delivering government sector services in application development and support and business processing outsourcing services.

One of its users will be British Telecom, which has a 35 percent stake in Tech Mahindra.

The Indian company already has five contact centres in Milton Keynes, Belfast and London.