Feb 4 (Reuters) - Blackrock ( BLK ) plans to hire nearly

1,200 people to expand its two support hubs in India, Bloomberg

News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the

matter.

The world's largest asset manager wants to build out its

artificial intelligence capabilities in India with the

expansion, the report added.

The iHubs, as the centers are known, are in the country's

financial hub Mumbai and Gurugram, which is near the national

capital New Delhi.

The new hires will increase total headcount to roughly 3,500

in the two cities, and include more engineers and data experts,

according to the report.

Blackrock ( BLK ) is also inheriting a so-called global capabilities

center in India's IT hub Bengaluru, through its proposed deal to

acquire data provider Preqin, Bloomberg reported. That center

will have roughly 1,500 staff members.

Blackrock ( BLK ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request

for comment.