The CEO of consumer packaged goods giant Unilever officially inaugurated the company’s new IT delivery centre in Bangalore, India, earlier today.

The facility houses 1,400 staff and is the largest of its kind within the company. It has been operational since May of this year.

According to Indian newspaper Business Standard, 500 of the staff at the facility are direct employees, with the remaining 1,100 coming from IT outsourcing providers including Infosys and Accenture.

The centre provides services including SAP development and support, information management and finance processing for the global Unilever operation. Unilever said its investment in its Indian subsidiary will help to boost its business in developing and emerging (D&E) markets.

"Currently, D&E markets contribute 55% of Unilever revenues," said CEO Paul Pofman.  "Unilever is making a fundamental shift towards allocating resources to D&E markets. D&E led innovation and services will ensure that this is aligned to our high growth markets and will also service our developed markets in a very cost efficient manner."

In June, Unilever’s UK division announced a restructuring plan that includes moving some IT jobs to India. The plan, which was approved in September, involves closing various sites in the UK but also investing £40 million to create an "unrivalled multi-function hub" at Port Sunlight in the Wirral.  

"[The plan] would also involve relocating some 400 high capability roles from Unilever’s Ewloe IT site, 15 miles from Port Sunlight with a number of other roles moving to Unilever’s IT centre in Bangalore, India," the company said at the time.

"In total, the proposed changes could result in a net reduction of around 500 Unilever roles in the UK," it said. "There would also be potentially the loss of around 300 associated contractor and third party roles."