Infosys to stay put in Bengaluru, says CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Thursday said software major Infosys Ltd. would remain in this tech city and the state government would provide required infrastructure for expanding its operations.

"No industry or company, including Infosys, is shifting base from Bengaluru or Karnataka, as we are developing the IT Industry Region (ITIR) in 2,077 acres of land at Devanahalli near the international airport," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

The chief minister's comment comes three days after Infosys in a regulatory filing Monday said it would surrender the land allotted to it by the state government due to lack of infrastructure and inordinate delay in providing road connectivity.

Refuting media reports that industries and IT services companies like Infosys were moving out due to woeful infrastructure in the state, especially in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said a four-lane road would be built to connect the new IT region to the national highway-7 for better access and prevent gridlocks.

"We will also provide required water and power in the next three months to the region for ensuring global firms like Infosys expand its operations on the city's outskirts," he said.

The $8.3-billion Infosys had planned to set up its second campus in north Bengaluru on a 100-acre land in the ITIR with a 20,000 seating capacity for techies.

Though the state-run Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) allotted 40 acres in 2010, the company sought an additional 60 acres to set up its second software development centre in the city as the region was closer to the airport.

The outsourcing major's main campus, located in Electronics City in Bengaluru south, houses its corporate headquarters and a 26,000-seat capacity facility to develop software (codes) for global clients.

After chairing an hour-long interactive session with industry honchos, including heads of IT services firms like Infosys, a worried chief minister said the state-run HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation) was ready to extend about Rs.1,000 crore for providing infrastructure facilities in the sprawling ITIR.

"I have urged the prime minister (Narendra Modi) to check unhealthy competition among states in attracting investments," Siddaramaiah said two days after Andhra Pradesh's tech-savvy Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a road show to promote his state for fresh investments and employment generation.

Claiming that the state would remain a premier destination for investments in diverse sectors such as manufacturing and IT services, Siddaramaiah said the US-based Honeywell Technology Lab Solutions was setting up its second facility near Bengaluru at a cost of Rs.1,373 crore to provide jobs to about 500 engineers.

"The high-level committee recently cleared the Honeywell investment proposal to set up its second lab on a five-acre land in the city's outskirts," he said.