Apple Inc has opened its first development centre in India to work on Apple Maps, the company’s digital maps and navigation service. The California-based company has teamed with Noida-based RMSI to provide development expertise and software for geospatial services. The company’s servers will be located in the U.S. but technical and support services would be provided in Hyderabad. It will work out of an existing software hub that is part of a special economic zone.

Mr Cook, who met faculty and students of a private engineering college here, said in his opening remarks that the friendship with Telangana state was lifelong. Apple didn’t specify the amount of investment in the facility but in a statement, it said the centre would accelerate the development of maps and create up to 4,000 jobs.

The Cupertino, California-based company has teamed with Noida-based RMSI, a global IT services company, to provide development expertise and software for geospatial services. It chose Hyderabad to set up its map development centre as the city had the largest number of engineers in the country specialising in mapping. The National Remote Sensing Agency that processed maps and images from India’s earth observation satellites were based here.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his son, Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao, were present at the inaugural function.