India's status as the leading location for off-shoring is being challenged by China, Morocco and Hungary, according to research by Pierre Audoin Consultants.

The research found that the 20 largest IT services suppliers operating in the UK have opened a total of 21 new global delivery centres since the beginning of January 2007, but only two of these were located in India. In contrast, four were set up in China, with three apiece in Eastern Europe and Morocco.

China's emergence as a global sourcing hub has been slow, with most services vendors initially looking to target business with the country's fast-growing corporations, rather than use local resources for off-shore delivery.

But BT Global Services, EDS, IBM and TCS have all opened sourcing facilities in the country in the last 18 months.

'India's position as the premier low-cost IT sourcing centre is not under serious threat in the near term,' said PAC senior consultant Nick Mayes.

'But what we are seeing is vendors looking to reduce their reliability on India's heated labour market, while adding non-English language skills to support clients in regions such as Central Europe.'