Chennai, Sep 13 (IANS): In its drive to become a total information technology (IT) solutions provider, the US-based computer hardware major Dell will double the headcount at its Force 10 Networks centre here, said a senior official.

Dell had recently acquired the US-based $200 million revenue networking company Force 10 Networks.

"India is playing a strategic part in driving Dell's transformation globally into a solutions and services enterprise. Chennai is a critical growth engine for Dell as it has manufacturing facility, services and research and development centres. Further, Force 10 Networks also has its R&D centre in the city," Suresh Vaswani, executive vice president, Dell Services and chairman, Dell India told reporters here Tuesday.

Force 10 Networks has a 265-people strong R&D centre here and Dell will double the headcount over the next one year, he said.

According to Vaswani, the Force 10 Networks acquisition might result in manufacturing of some networking products at Dell's factory near here.

Force 10 Networks' development centre here meets nearly 75 percent of the company's software needs and, in the case of hardware, around 25 percent work is done in the country.

Vaswani said Dell India is the number one computer company in India across the market segments.

He said the company has a 1.6 million units per annum plant at Sriperumbudur near here and has ample space for expansion.