NEW DELHI —  A daylong strike by local political groups shut down India's technology hub, Bangalore, forcing many outsourcing companies to shift work elsewhere in the country and abroad.

Wednesday's strike was called to press the southern Karnataka state's decades-old claim over a small town in a dispute with neighboring Maharashtra state.

Normal life was crippled across Karnataka with vehicles staying off the streets, forcing people to stay at home. Schools and colleges also were closed for the day.

Bangalore, Karnataka's capital, plays host to top multinational and Indian information technology companies like IBM Corp., Intel Corp., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. Infosys and Wipro write software and handle back-office work for many Western companies.

Most companies in Bangalore declared a holiday Wednesday and asked their staff to work on Saturday, said Shyam Sunder, chief executive of India Relations, a public relations firm whose clients include about 25 information technology companies.

Outsourcing companies"either shifted work to centers outside Bangalore or asked some of their staff to stay overnight so to run critical operations,"Sunder said.

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Because the strike was announced in advance, the companies were able to make alternative plans, he said.

The protests were largely peaceful, barring one incident of stone pelting in Belgaum town, which is the heart of the dispute, said police officer B.S. Sial. About 15 people, including four policemen, suffered minor injuries in that incident, he said.

An Infosys official in Bangalore said the company had"minimal staffing for some operations"related to its outsourcing services. The official, who didn't want to be named because she was not authorized to speak to media, said there was no disruption in any of the company's"critical operations."

Officials at IBM and other multinational companies could not be reached for comment.

The strike was called by the Karnataka Border Agitation Committee _ an umbrella organization of local groups _ to pressure the federal government to ignore Maharashtra's claim on the border town of Belgaum, currently part of Karnataka state.

Maharashtra state is demanding the transfer of Belgaum because nearly 60 percent of its residents speak the state's Marathi language. Only 40 percent speak Karnataka's Kannada language.

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