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In a first such move, Cloud software major Zoho is likely to mark its presence in eastern Uttar Pradesh this year, the company's Co-founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu said on Monday. 

The Chennai-based SAAS company last year surpassed 100 million users across over 55 business applications. 

“We are going to Eastern UP this year, our first major rural expedition North. I wish we could have a meaningful presence everywhere and maybe over the next 20 years we will get there. That is my dream,” Vembu said in a post on social media platform X.com.

Noting that he loves the country and his heritage Vembu said that India “is vast talent waiting for opportunity everywhere in Bharat”.

“I love our nation -- while I am proud of my Tamil heritage, I am equally fond of every one of our states and our regions and the vast cultural, spiritual, and civilisational heritage they represent”. 

He said that Zoho “wants to create world-class R&D capability wherever we go and there is a speed limit to how fast you can scale up R&D teams and it is not at all like scaling up manufacturing plants”. 

He informed that the company is doing well in Kerala’s Kottarakara. The industrial park and R&D centre, majorly focussed on AI and robotics, was launched in February. The centre is expected to generate around 1,000 jobs in Kerala.

According to Vembu, high-end technology companies in rural towns can be crucial to help “stop the exodus of youngsters seeking overseas jobs”. 

Zoho began its rural office in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi in 2011. It started with hardly 10 employees, and now reportedly has around 900 professionals working in a non-urban area.