L&T Technology Services announced a five-year contract with Nokia on 26 October 2026 in Bengaluru to support Nokia engineering and research and development work in India. LTTS will set up a dedicated Offshore Development Centre in India and a separate engineering team to support the Nokia Technology Center globally. The work will cover 5G networks, intelligent automation, AI driven operations and AI infrastructure.
What the Five-Year LTTS Nokia Deal Covers
L&T Technology Services disclosed the agreement on 26 October 2026 through a stock exchange filing in Bengaluru. The contract runs for five years and brings LTTS engineering capacity together with Nokia telecommunications technology work in India.
LTTS will support Nokia research and development programs through an integrated operating model with Nokia global R and D teams. The scope includes product engineering, software development, system integration and product support. It also extends to new product development and embedded systems. The companies have not disclosed the financial value of the contract.
| Work area | What it involves in this deal |
|---|---|
| Product engineering | Design, development and testing support for Nokia products |
| Software development | Telecom software, including cloud and automation software |
| System integration | Combining hardware, software and network parts into working systems |
| Product support | Ongoing help to keep products stable after launch |
| New product development | Support for new designs and next generation solutions |
| Embedded systems | Built in software and chips that control telecom equipment |
LTTS will also create a dedicated engineering team in India to support the Nokia Technology Center globally. That team will focus on 5G networks, intelligent automation, AI driven operations and AI infrastructure. Nokia has linked this work to rising demand from AI and cloud customers and the growth of its IP Networks business.
What Is an Offshore Development Centre?
An Offshore Development Centre (ODC) is a dedicated engineering unit set up in another country that works only for one client as an extension of that client in house team. The technology partner hires engineers, provides office and systems, and runs operations while the client sets priorities and technical standards.
ODC stands for Offshore Development Centre. In IT and engineering services, it is also called an offshore development center. The meaning is the same in both spellings. The centre is ring fenced for one customer. Its staff, tools and often its work space serve only that customer.
The model sits between short term outsourcing and a fully owned subsidiary. In project outsourcing, a vendor delivers a defined task and then moves on. In an ODC, the same team stays with the product for years. This helps retain product knowledge and keeps quality stable.
In the LTTS Nokia deal, LTTS will build and run the ODC in India. Nokia will direct the research priorities and share its global standards. LTTS will handle hiring, infrastructure and centre management. The ODC will bring data center grade computing and AI infrastructure engineering to next generation telecom solutions. This matches a wider trend in which global firms use India for long term engineering capacity because of its large pool of English speaking engineers and lower operating costs.
What Is LTTS and How Is It Linked to L and T?
L&T Technology Services (LTTS) is a listed engineering services company and a subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro (L and T). LTTS provides Engineering Research and Development services, which means design, development, testing and support for products and plants, and it operates independently with its own management and stock listing.
LTTS is not the same as L and T, though L and T is its parent group. LTTS began as an engineering division within L and T and became an independent company in 2009. It was listed on the NSE and BSE in 2016. Its registered office is at L and T House at Ballard Estate in Mumbai, while its headquarters functions are centred in Vadodara.
LTTS describes itself as a global leader in AI, digital and ER and D consulting services. Key facts about its scale help explain why Nokia chose it as a partner.
| Indicator | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | L and T Technology Services Limited |
| Parent | Larsen and Toubro Limited |
| Presence | More than 25 countries, 21 to 23 global design centers and about 100 innovation labs |
| People | More than 23,800 engineers and technologists |
| Revenue | More than $1.27 billion in annual revenue |
| Clients | More than 400 global clients, including 57 of the top 100 global R and D spenders and 69 Fortune 500 firms |
| Patents | More than 1,700 patents filed, including more than 240 in AI |
| Focus segments | Mobility, Sustainability and Tech |
The Tech segment covers hi tech, semiconductors, telecom, medical technology and software platforms. The Nokia work falls under this segment. LTTS follows a five-year plan called Lakshya 31, which targets 13 to 15 percent annual revenue growth and a sharper focus on six technology bets. One of those bets is next generation compute and AI infrastructure, which is directly linked to the Nokia ODC.
Which Country Does Nokia Belong To and What Does Nokia Do Now?
Nokia is a Finnish multinational company headquartered in Espoo, Finland. Nokia was founded in 1865 as a pulp mill near the town of Nokia in Finland and is now a business to business technology leader focused on fixed, mobile, IP, optical and data center networks.
Nokia is no longer mainly a mobile phone company. After leading global handset sales from 1998 for about a decade, Nokia sold its Devices and Services business to Microsoft in 2014. Since then it has focused on telecom infrastructure. Its acquisition of Alcatel Lucent in 2016 brought Nokia Bell Labs into the group.
Nokia Bell Labs is the industrial research arm of Nokia. The lab traces its roots to Bell Telephone Laboratories set up in the United States in 1925 and completed 100 years in 2025. Its researchers have contributed to the transistor, the laser, the solar cell, the Unix system and MIMO, a wireless method that increases network capacity without using more bandwidth. MIMO later became central to 5G.
Today Nokia describes itself as a leader in connectivity infrastructure for the AI supercycle. The supercycle refers to rising demand for networks that can carry heavy AI and cloud traffic. In the third quarter of 2026, Nokia reported operating profit of $677 million, up 35 percent from the previous year. Sales to AI and cloud customers rose 123 percent, and its IP Networks business grew 43 percent. The LTTS partnership supports this shift by adding engineering capacity for AI ready networks.
Why Nokia Is Expanding Research and 5G Work in India
Nokia treats India as an important innovation hub and a large market for telecom equipment. Nokia says India played a role in key milestones such as the first GSM call in India in 1995 on a Nokia phone over a Nokia supplied network, the introduction of 3G services in 2011, 4G technology in 2012 and 5G in 2022. Nokia works with public and private operators, large enterprises and utilities in India.
| Location | Main role |
|---|---|
| Bengaluru | Largest research and development centre, with work on telco cloud, big data, 5G, 6G, IP and optical systems and more than 8,000 staff. Hosts the first of its kind 6G Lab opened in October 2023 |
| Chennai | Fixed Networks research centre for fiber, Wi Fi and access systems, plus a large telecom factory and Global Delivery Centre |
| Noida and Gurgaon | Delivery, operations and corporate functions, including a large Global Delivery Centre in Noida |
| Mumbai | Operations and enterprise support |
Two India assets matter most for this deal. The Bengaluru centre leads research on next generation core, cloud and AI. It supports the Bharat 6G Vision and works with the Indian Institute of Science on 6G radio and machine learning. The Chennai factory, set up in 2008 and spread over 140,000 square metres, makes 5G radios and optical line terminals for Indian and global markets and runs on 100 percent green energy. It has produced more than 8 million telecom units.
Nokia global delivery centres in Chennai and Noida manage customer networks in several countries with support from more than 2,500 experts. The new LTTS ODC adds a dedicated layer to this base. It will let Nokia scale research staff quickly without building a new captive unit from scratch, while LTTS brings its method called Engineering Intelligence, which combines domain engineering with AI across products and operations.
How the Market Responded to the LTTS Nokia Agreement
LTTS shares rose more than 3 percent on 26 October 2026 after the announcement. The stock traded around ₹4,034.80 on the NSE in morning trade. The rise reflected positive sentiment around long duration engineering deals, which give vendors better revenue visibility than short projects.
A share price move does not confirm the value of a contract. The companies have not shared revenue or margin details for this ODC. For readers tracking markets, LTTS share price moves often react to large deal wins, quarterly results and guidance, while Nokia share price moves reflect global telecom spending, AI infrastructure orders and regional 5G rollouts.
Key Takeaways
- L&T Technology Services signed a five-year contract with Nokia on 26 October 2026 to support engineering and R and D work in India.
- The deal includes a dedicated Offshore Development Centre in India that will work only for Nokia as an extension of its in house team.
- The scope covers product engineering, software development, system integration, product support, new product development and embedded systems across 5G, intelligent automation and AI infrastructure.
- LTTS is the listed engineering services subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro, with more than $1.27 billion in revenue and 57 of the top 100 global R and D spenders as clients.
- Nokia is a Finnish company headquartered in Espoo, founded in 1865, whose Bengaluru centre hosts a 6G Lab opened in October 2023 and whose Chennai factory has produced more than 8 million telecom units.
