India is top of the Brics

India remains the most attractive country for businesses looking to place some of their operations abroad, according to the latest poll of silicon.com readers.

We asked which of the Bric countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - readers are most likely to be attracted to in terms of offshoring activity in the next decade.

India gained 38 per cent of the reader vote - significantly more than its rivals.

Russia came next, garnering 22 per cent of the vote, with Brazil third on 21 per cent. China - perhaps surprisingly - trailed in with just 18 per cent.

The results support the view that India will remain competitive as an offshoring location for the foreseeable future.

Special Report: Inside India

In February silicon.com's Steve Ranger visited the Indian tech hotspots of Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. Click on the links below to see photo galleries of the cities and companies visited.

♦ Satyam's IT campus
♦ Hyderabad's tech parks
♦ Bringing tech to rural India
♦ High-tech on the streets of Pune
♦ Pune - the new Bangalore?
♦ Boom town Bangalore
♦ Bangalore's Electronics City
♦ SAP and Wipro in Bangalore

And although the other three countries were fairly well represented in the poll, they still have some catching up to do to topple India.

According to Gartner, Russia is being hindered by a negative image that may still take several years to break down.

But some have warned that the Indian economy could overheat in the near future, meaning China, Russia and Brazil would be well placed to take advantage.

The Bric countries were identified by Goldman Sachs in 2003 as the four countries that would soon become increasingly important economies in global terms, due to their size and scale.