Telecom software company Hughes Software Systems today said it was looking for acquisitions and will hire 2500 people by March 2006.

"We are interested in acquiring 100 per cent stake in BPO and telecom service provider companies in India," HSS president and managing director Arun Kumar told reporters in New Delhi without giving any timeframe.

The company is strengthening its core capabilities in services and BPO operations. "We are on a hiring spree now. We will be hiring 2000 people for services operations and 500 people for BPO operation in the next six quarters," Kumar said.

HSS, which employs 3,000 people in the country, had hired 439 people in the first quarter of this fiscal and 794 people during the second quarter of this fiscal.

The company will also carry out some expansion in normal opeartions at its locations in Gurgaon and Bangalore, Kumar said.

On the major issues before the company, Kumar said timely hiring is the biggest challenge as all the four major challenges before the company are HR related.

After an open offer, Flextronics now owns 70.3 per cent in the telecom focussed company Hughes Software Systems, 7 per cent is owned by public and the rest by financial institutions.