Infosys looking to expand in Karnataka beyond Bangalore

Infosys Technologies has said that it is looking at expanding within Karnataka, dispelling speculations that is looking at other states. The company has said that it is inclined towards increasing its presence in the Bangalore-Mysore-Mangalore belt.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the all-important meeting with the chief minister of Karnataka on addressing the infrastructure woes of the city, Nandan M Nilekani, president, CEO and managing director of Infosys Technologies said the company has applied to the state government for about 300 acres land in Bangalore to build a world class campus, in addition to the existing one at the Electronics City.

Terming their expansion in Bangalore as "critical", Nilekani said, "Infosys has three expansion plans in Karnataka. We have also applied to the government for alloting 50 acres in Mysore and another 25 acres in Mangalore. These are all the proposals that are pending with the government. Based on the discussions we had today, we hope that all these proposals will be taken care of. "

Nilekani added that it is imperative for Infosys to also come up with campuses elsewhere due the fact that it intends to hire 8,000-10,000 IT professionals in the current fiscal.

"We will need space to have them and thereby expand elsewhere. We are not consciously saying we will go out. The reality is that we will go by the availability of land. Currently, from an Infosys perspective, the Bangalore-Mysore-Mangalore expansion is what we want to quickly get on with," Nilekani added.

While Infosys will continue to expand its presence in other cities across the country and overseas simultaneously, Nilekani said that the company is committed to first consolidate its operations in Karnataka for leveraging the rich talent pool available in the state.

According to Nilekani, neither has Infosys' expansion in Bangalore slowed down due to infrastructure bottlenecks nor has there been a flight of capital due to these hurdles.

"It is reasonable to say that in the last 5-6 months, there has been no perceptible or measurable slow down in completion of projects in Bangalore. It is incorrect to say there has been flight of capital, he explained.