Cognizant plans major expansion in city

Cognizant plans major expansion

Deccan Herald

Cognizant Technology Solutions, one of the leading IT services provider, plans to invest $76 million (about Rs 335 crore) in establishing development centres in India during 2005 and 2006.

It will build development centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata that would accommodate over 8,000 professionals. This apart, it also plans to set up training centre in Chennai, which can house over 1,000 professionals.

In Bangalore, it will invest $ 28.7 (about Rs 130 crore) in the state-of-the-art techno-complex at C V Raman Nagar, which will be ready occupancy in a phased manner, starting December 2005. “The new facility in Bangalore will accommodate about 2,250 professionals,” Cognizant President & CEO Lakshmi Narayanan told reporters here on Thursday. He said they have signed up 10 acres of land in Electronic City to meet further expansion needs in Bangalore. The US-headquartered Cognizant has nearly 90 per cent of its 15,300 employees in India and plans to hire 7,200 people in 2005, he said, adding 60 per cent recruitment would be through campus interviews. It aims to touch a total strength of 22,500 by December 2005, he said.

In Bangalore, the company plans to double its headcount from existing 1,000 within next 12 months. He said, “Bangalore will its global centre of excellence for advanced solutions using new technologies, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and IT Infrastructure services.”

He said the firm was eyeing acquisitions in the open source, high-end BPO, banking, finance and insurance areas. Salaries for programmers in India are rising in double digits while in its Europe and US centres, it was less than five per cent, Mr Narayanan said. Cognizant’s revenues in 2004 stood at Rs 2,600 crore and expects it to increase to Rs 3,700 crore in 2005.