Infosys gets CISF cover

The home ministry has selected 10 corporate houses, including Wipro, IBM and TCS, to provide them Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cover, in view of the threat perception and vulnerability of these corporate entities. While Infosys on Friday became the first private sector establishment in India to be provided security cover by the elite security force, cover to the rest of the corporate houses will be provided in a phased manner, a senior CISF official said.

At least 79 corporate houses, including Reliance, Tata and Oberois, had earlier approached the Centre seeking CISF security cover for their installations. Other business houses and vital organisations that will get CISF security cover include Reliance, Essar, Jindal, Electronic City (Bangalore) and the Bombay Stock Exchange, CISF Inspector-General R K Mishra told Business Standard.

“We have taken into consideration the threat perception, vulnerability and criticality of the corporate houses that had approached us for the cover and have decided to give protection to 10 such entities. Our personnel are adequately trained to address the security aspect of corporate houses, which we have mastered through guarding vital installations like airports, defence establishments, nuclear power plants, space installations and heritage sites,” he added.

CISF is planning to deploy 79 jawans for guarding Electronic City, which houses most of the elite IT companies in Bangalore, and about 71 personnel for Wipro’s Sarajapur Road campus. In total, CISF expects the number of personnel deployed in manning these establishments won’t be more than 1,000. The cost incurred for the deployed of personnel in these companies and establishments will be borne by the business houses concerned.

Infosys will spend Rs 1 lakh per day towards the expenses of the 101 CISF personnel, including salary, medical expenses and boarding. In total, the company will spend Rs 3.6 crore per annum towards CISF cover in its Electronic City campus. Infosys Chairman N R Narayana Murthy said that the security cover, coupled with the company’s private security guards, has made the company the “most secured corporate houses in the country”.

Besides CISF personnel, about 350 private security personnel also guard various Infosys’ campuses in the city.