Lets work together says N R Murthy

Murthy says industry, govt can together solve Bangalore hiccups

Business Standard / Bangalore July 28,2004

After all the outburst at the Nasscom Summit on Bangalore's poor infrastructure and most recent opinion expressed by Azim Premji to expand Wipro's operations in other cities, Infosys Technologies Chairman and chief mentor N R Narayan Murthy has said that the industry and the government could come together to solve the problem of poor infrastructure problem.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of an inauguration of a computer training course for members of the Legislative Council, Murthy said, "There is no need to get agitated. I'm confident that all problems can be solved through discussions. Industry and the government can work together for better Bangalore."

Murthy admitted that the Bangalore has been facing with this problems in the recent past and that it required immediate attention.

Replying to a query on whether poor infrastructure had been affecting the growth of the IT sector in the city, Murthy said, "A couple of years ago, it took us three hours to reach Electronics City (where Infosys headquarters is located) from Bangalore. But the government and industry came together to solve the problem. We can overcome all the current infrastructure issues by working on the same lines."

While putting forth the industry's stand on this issue, the chief mentor of Infosys went on to state that Infosys would come forward to help the state government if its role is specified. "If the government specifies what it wants from the industry, Infosys will be the first to do it," he added.

It may be recalled that during the recent announcement Wipro's quarterly results, chairman Azim Premji had expressed his stand on the infrastructure bottlenecks, higher attrition levels, wage pressures and most importantly, the ever-increasing commuting time for its employees. In fact, Premji also stated that his company was considering expansion of its operations beyond Bangalore.