MADCAT

India's top software exporter Tata Consultancy Services announced Monday it has won a multimillion dollar deal with Italian sports car maker Ferrari to design Formula 1 engines.

Teams of engineers and specialists from Tata Consultancy will assist in the development of a Formula 1 racing car engine for the next season beginning March, said N. Chandrasekaran, executive vice president of the company.

"This is a significant win," Chandrasekaran said of the deal. "The aspect that makes it very special is that we will be doing the core work that powers the Ferrari engine for the race car division."

Ferrari officials were unavailable for comment on Monday.

The first group of Tata's engineers has already reached Maranello, Ferrari's headquarters, to start work on the project, Chandrasekaran said. Tata Consultancy will provide software and various automation services for Ferrari.

The company wouldn't disclose the specifics of the agreement.

"I can't share the size of the deal. All I can say it's a multimillion, multiyear contract," Chandrasekaran said.

The deal with Ferrari will help Tata raise its profile in Europe, he said, especially at a time when several orders from European companies are in the pipeline.

Tata Consultancy's clients include American ExpresIs Co., British Telecom PLC, Boeing Co., and IBM Corp.

The company, part of the US$13 billion (euro9.7 billion) Tata group, exported software and related services worth US$1.2 billion (euro893 million) in the fiscal year that ended March 31.