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Intel Capital, said it will invest $23 million in three Indian companies in areas ranging from online marketing to education. The move is being adopted because Intel's revenues are shrinking and the global credit crunch has made funding very difficult. The new investment deemed to go to One97 Communications Pvt. Ltd., which provides value-added services like ring tones and games for mobile phones; IndiaMART.com, an online business-to-business marketplace, and Global Talent Track, a vocational educational institute.

Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, slashed fourth-quarter profit forecasts twice on flagging demand, and is now projecting a sales decline of more than 20 percent from the year-earlier period. The Santa Clara, California-based company is scheduled to report quarterly results Jan. 15.

Mr. Kuppam told The Associated Press that Intel Capital invests, on average and excluding one-time large deals, about $500 million a year.
”You get much better value for your money in the current environment,” he added. ”We are going to be really active.”

Funds are expected to come from the $250 million Intel Capital India Technology Fund, established in December 2005 and has so far provided about 40 percent of its funds, Mr. Kuppam said. Intel Corp. empowers around 3,000 people in India and opened its largest manufacturing site outside the United States in Bangalore, India, in 1998. Intel's investments in India to date have been over $1.7 billion.

Last year, Intel Capital put in approximately $50 million in 9 companies in India. That amounted to 8.5 percent of total funds committed globally, excluding a $1 billion investment in Clearwire Corp., an Internet provider specializing in a new type of wireless broadband technology called WiMax.

The company does not break down its revenues by country, but spokeswoman Saranya Rustagi said Intel has no plans to change the size of its work force in India as global demand shrinks.