Wellington, June 23 NZPA - Privately owned Jade Software Corp is hailing a deal to sell a software product in India as the most significant it has entered into in the last five years.

The Christchurch-based company said Indian partner CMC Ltd (CMC) will sell Jade's student management system (SMS) throughout India.

The company did not put any numbers on expected revenue or profit from the sales but said up to 100 centres in India will have the software by the end of the year.

"This is one of the most significant engagements with a world class systems integrator that Jade has entered into in the last five years," Jade's managing director Rod Carr said.

CMC is a publicly listed subsidiary of TCS Ltd, which is part of Indian industrial conglomerate Tata Group.

There are more than 20,000 universities and colleges in India, making it an attractive market for student management software systems.

Jade first developed SMS in 1999. The current 4.5 version was released in April. The sales in India are of a customised version.

The application will be installed and supported by CMC personnel following training in Christchurch. Jade will train a further 25 CMC employees in Mumbai later this year.

Last year the company signed a memorandum of understanding with CMC and this is the first major deal resulting from the partnership.

Jade reported annual profit rose 3 percent to $8 million in March.

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