Cognizant to invest $285 mn in 2011

Cognizant is to invest $285 million in 2011, the bulk of it in India, said Coburn. The bulk would be on its notified techno-campuses in Special Economic Zones. The company has planned to add eight million sq ft, with the capacity to house 55,000 employees. Around 75 per cent of the global headcount of 111,000 is in India. “We saw a decline in attrition during the first quarter. This number has decreased sequentially to 15.1 per cent,” he said.

The real estate development plan is to create additional software development and training facilities in regions designated as SEZs in Chennai, Pune, Coimbatore, and Kolkata. Around 78 per cent of revenue came from clients in North America, 18.7 per cent in Europe and 3.3 per cent from the Asia Pacific, Middle Eastern and Latin American markets. The company had a gross addition of 59 new customers during the first quarter and closed the quarter with 714 active customers, said Coburn.