No outsourcing today: Strike closes India's tech center

Political strife led to a shutdown Oct. 4 of most major outsourcing companies in Bangalore, the heart of India’s business community.

The 12-hour strike closed most offices of Indian outsourcing giants Infosys and WiPro, and also affected work at IBM, Intel and EDS, published reports say. Bangalore is home to more than 1,500 businesses.

In Bangalore life basically was shut down -- public transportation, schools and most stores closed -- but the business of outsourcing continued, either by having work shifted to other locales or by telecommuting, reports say. Many companies say they asked workers to work weekend shifts to replace the lost hours.

The strike involved a decades-old boundary dispute between Karnataka, the Indian state where Bangalore is located, and neighboring Maharashtra.

In April, Bangalore shut down for two days when citizens rioted following the death of Indian film icon Rajkumar. Published reports said the country’s software companies lost $40 million in revenue during that time.