Madhya Pradesh upbeat about TCS, Infosys campuses in Indore

Information Technology majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys have initiated processes to set up their campuses at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Both the companies are working at a fast pace to complete the construction work and we hope their campuses will come up by December 2016. They are investing about   Rs  600 crore each,” said a senior government official in the Information Technology department.

The official also said, “The government has allotted 100 acres each, with a condition that they will provide fifty per cent jobs to local people at the rate of 100 jobs per acre. Thus each campus would recruit 10,000 people.”

The government allocated land at Indore’s prestigious investment destination Super Corridor area at the rate of Rs  20 lakh per acre. The companies are developing these campuses as special economic zones.

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• The government has allotted 100 acres of land to each IT company at subsidised land prices
• Both the companies will have to provide fifty per cent jobs to local people at the rate of 100 jobs per acre. Thus each campus would recruit 10,000 people
• The IT and BPO companies including TCS and Infosys are developing the allotted campuses by the government in Indore  as special economic zones.

About 20 real estate projects have been launched at the Super Corridor area. “We are awaiting faster completion of both the projects or else the return on investment would remain low in the area,” a real estate developer said, and added, “prices are hovering about  Rs   1,200-1,500 sq ft on the Super Corridor area near both the campuses as the market is sluggish.”

The Super Corridor is a stretch of 8 km with 75 mt wide road, connecting the Airport Road and MR-10 road. The proposed master plan of Indore (Year 2021) has allowed business activities such as corporate offices, convention centre, medical related activities, cinemas and shopping complexes.

Infosys officials had told Business Standard in 2012 that Indore campus would be developed as software development hub but there would be no BPO activity.  However, officials of the both the companies refused to comment on the progress of work on the campuses. Infosys in a response to Business Standard said that they were in silent period and would speak only next month, while TCS said it would be too early for them to comment. “TCS may have both software solutions as well as BPO,” an official said.

A late comer in IT and software development, Madhya Pradesh tried to develop its own IT-specific zone at Indore namely Crystal IT Park in 2002 but there were no takers for several years. “Now investors have started coming,” the government official quoted above said.

In January 2014, TCS had announced it was setting up the world’s largest corporate learning and development centre with a total capacity to train 15,000 professionals at a time and 50,000 professionals annually at Thiruvananthapuram. the planned facility will be located on a 97-acre property in the Techno Park area of the city. While Infosys Global Education Centre, one of the world's largest corporate universities, is located in Mysuru.