New Delhi: Global MNCs are increasingly hiring candidates with PhDs for their captive operations in India, experts have said.

With the Indian operations moving up the value chain i.e. from back office work to specialised Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), global companies are looking to tap specialised manpower including PhDs, they added.

"The whole thing started with banking and financial services industry, but now it is there with retail, healthcare as well. Accordingly, opportunities for the recruitment of well qualified people such as PhDs has also increased," said Randstad India, President Staffing and Director Marketing, Aditya Narayana Mishra.

MNCs setting up their captive centres in India, indicate that the quality of work in India is on the rise, said experts. A number of retail and consumer companies, healthcare companies and engineering firms are going to be benefited through GICs, said industry officials.

Earlier, processes such as statistical modelling and analysis were being carried out at the companies headquarters abroad, but now increasingly these kind of research work is happening in India, Mishra said.

"Look at the number of patents that the back offices of MNCs are generating from India. The world has started to recognise the quality (of talent) that India produces," he added.

According to industry experts, earlier people used to pursue PhDs to be in academics, but as more and more number of multinational companies (MNCs) are seeking post doctoral experienced talent and are approaching IITs for their R&D centres, these courses are being increasingly viewed as an opportunity to earn better and join the corporate sector.

Global In-House centres (GIC) have played a key role in the IT-BPO sectors phenomenal growth story, establishing 'proof of concept' and branding India as a global sourcing destination, according to Nasscom.

There were around 750 IT-BPO MNCs captive centres in India in FY2010, 28 per cent of them with multiple locations and employed almost 4 lakh people. GIC contribute over one-fifth of the country's IT-BPO export revenues as well as employees.