Standard Chartered PLC plans to double the number of employees at its outsourcing outfit, Scope International, in India by March 2010.

The expansion at Scope, wholly owned Indian subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, will involve doubling the number of staffers in call center operations at Bangalore and Chennai from the current 1,100, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Scope International began its Indian operations in 2001 and currently services customers in India and the UAE, the bank said. The firm handles a wide range of value-added and complex services from banking operations to supporting global HR processes, finance and accounting services, software development and maintenance, and providing IT Service and helpdesk support to Standard Chartered.

The staff strength may rise further in the medium-term as the call centers service more markets, the company said.