Karnataka Okays 845 Acres For Largest Infosys Software Centre

FINALLY, INFY LANDS PLOTS IN SARJAPUR
Karnataka Okays 845 Acres For Software Centre
The Economic Times


IT BEHEMOTH Infosys Technologies is going to get the 845 acres of land it had asked for near Sarjapur in Bangalore. The state government has granted final approvals for the project on Thursday.

Karnataka IT secretary M K Shankaralinge Gowda told ET, “The chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has signed the file after the land audit committee passed it. We have sent the order to Infosys on Thursday. The land sanction is for a software development centre and industrial housing.” However an Infosys spokesperson said that the company was yet to receive the formal letter.

Earlier last month, a high level committee headed by Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had cleared only the investment part of the plan worth about Rs 1,500 crore for the company’s expansion proposal in Bangalore. The land sanction was pending with the Land Audit Committee for the last one month.

Move mired in controversy

Infosys had first requested the government to allocate 845 acres of land in 2000, which was not granted. Subsequent applications to the government were approved on three occasions. But the proposal has been mired in controversies after former prime minister Deve Gowda questioned the company’s land acquisition strategies, resulting in an unsavoury controversy.

While announcing its Q3 results in January this year, Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai had said, “We have no land in Bangalore and we can’t expand... it is possible to scale up but we don’t have space to add.”

The IT company plans to take the land in two plots. While one will be for a software development centre with an employment potential of 25,000 seats, the second will be to provide residential facilities for employees, a school and hospital. Currently, Infosys has its largest facility in Bangalore housing over 15,000 people and centres in investments Mysore and Mangalore into i Karnataka . Total as on October 2005 amounts to Rs 1,744 crore. According to Mr Gowda, Wipro and Shapoorji Pallonji’s expansion proposals in Mysore are going to be taken up in a high level committee meeting chaired by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday. The two plans are expected to be approved. Wipro has asked for 200 acres land in Mysore.