MUMBAI, INDIA: India's second-largest software exporter Infosys Technologies plans to give pay hikes and promotions next month, the Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing a senior company official.

Infosys has begun a performance appraisal process, and joins rivals including Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Cognizant in lifting wage freezes as industry growth prospects improve, the paper said.

"Yes, we are giving hikes this October. It will happen across the board," the paper quoted Nandita Gurjar, Infosys' group head for human resources as saying.

Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs and Philips Electronics among its clients, could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

The company had skipped the promotion cycle in April as employee utilisation and billing rates were low, but a rise in utilisation rates has made it decide to reward staff, Gurjar told the paper. Infosys has a staff strength of more than 100,000.

Infosys's salaries bill is estimated at 45-46 percent of sales, the paper said. In July, Infosys forecast consolidated revenue to fall 3.1-4.6 percent to $4.45 billion to $4.52 billion in the year to March 2010, its first annual decline.

This month, Infosys Chief Operating Officer S.D. Shibulal told reporters that pressure for price cuts had eased, but the business environment remained challenging as clients were cautious in spending.