The annual survey of 100 chief financial officers, conducted by leading accounting and consulting firm BDO Seidman, LLP, also revealed that many US firms would consider pulling out their outsourcing operations from traditional destinations like India due to the economic downturn.

“This year we are seeing three global factors that are causing US technology companies to pull back from traditional outsourcing locations, led by the recent boom and bust of the worldwide economy.

“Satyam's fraud case and the terrorist attacks in Mumbai are causing a lot of companies to reconsider operating in India,” Douglas Sirotta, a partner in BDO Seidman's Technology Practice said in a statement.

India ranks third after the US and China as a preferred outsourcing destination for the companies that participated in the survey.