MindTree to invest Rs 125 cr for Bhubaneswar campus expansion

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The mid-sized IT company, MindTree will invest around Rs 125 crore for the next two phases of expansion at its Bhubaneswar campus which has been built over 20 acres of land.

MindTree Kalinga today formally launched its global learning centre and a centre of excellence for the insurance domain. The insurance segment contributes about 14 per cent to the overall company's revenues. The company has invested Rs 125 crore in the Phase-I.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the MindTree Kalinga Bhubaneswar centre.

"The investment will be approximately be the same, another Rs 125 crore, for the Phase II and Phase III. The physical infrastructure is already there and the plans for next phases will be mainly for software development", Krishnakumar Natarajan, chief executive officer and co-founder, MindTree told mediapersons. The Phase-II expansion will start in December.

MindTree, co-headquartered in Bangalore and Warren in New Jersey (US), had signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government on August 2006.

About 272,000 square feet have been developed in the Phase-I. The learning centre has capacity to train 2,500 engineers (MindTree minds) annually recruited from different parts of the world in a 90 day immersive learning curriculum. 690 MindTree employees have been trained here already, said the company chairman Subroto Bagchi.

Presently, 800 technical associates are working at the campus.

"There is need to transform Bhubnaeswar from Tier II city to Tier I city for attracting investments. We must get international flight connections like to Dubai, elevated highway to Infocity, planning for metro rail in Bhubaneswar, improvement of quality education at the engineering colleges of the state", Bagchi added.

The lack of infrastructure facility will slow down the business, said Natarajan. MindTree has 61 per cent clients from United States and 27 percent from Europe.

Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Patnaik assured all support for the future expansion of the MindTree campus in the city.

"I am happy that this campus is the Global Learning Centre of MindTree to groom 2,500 young engineers annually for building the digital workforce of tomorrow, and at present 800 technical associates are working here. I hope, MindTree shall continue to expand its growth and employment contribution from Bhubaneswar in future. I would like to assure here that the state government will provide all possible support to MindTree for its future expansion in the state," he said. The state government has set a target to create one lakh jobs in IT sector in the next five years.