Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor Narayana Murthy today said the company is open to a foreigner becoming his successor.

"Well, given that we have a significant percentage of foreign holdings in Infosys, I don't think it should matter whether it is an Indian or a foreigner who chairs the company," Murthy told a private TV news channel.

He was responding to a query on how Infosys' shareholders would react to a foreigner as his successor.

"What they (shareholders) would look for is a person who can guide the company in a proper direction, who can manage the board well, who has the support of all the people in the company, so I don't think it would matter," he added.

The hunt for a replacement for Murthy has already started as he would retire in August next year after he turns 65.

"I am sure we will see in the years to come... One of the members of the executive council become the CEO. There is no doubt about that at all.

"But, whether it is going to happen in the next two years, five years or seven years, that is not for me to comment," Murthy noted.

Earlier, Murthy had said that it would not be difficult for an outsider to succeed him.

Infosys' nominations committee has started the search for Murthy's successor. The committee has ICICI Bank Non-Executive Chairman K V Kamath, Cornell University Professor Jeffrey Lehman and HDFC Standard Life Insurance CEO Deepak M Satwalekar as members.

The search for a successor to Murthy comes at a time when India's top business group, the Tatas, has begun to look for a replacement for its Chairman, Ratan Tata, who is to retire in December, 2012.