MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Infosys is planning to lay off up to 5,000 employees as the software services provider looks to cut costs and boost sales, The Economic Times reported on Friday.

The report came as Infosys Ltd executive co-chairman S. Gopalakrishnan was quoted by other media reports as saying 2013 will be better than last year for India's IT industry.

Gopalakrishnan was quoted as saying brighter prospects for the United States and China would help the IT sector, as he addressed an event for the Infosys Science Foundation on Thursday.

Infosys was not immediately available to comment on the reports.

Infosys shares were up 0.5 percent, in line with the 0.6 percent gain in the IT sub-index.

(Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Stephen Coates)