Infosys favours budgetary allocation to tackle traffic

Infosys Technologies, India's second largest software exporter, wants Karnataka to make a special budgetary allocation to improve the infrastructure of Bangalore that has taken a hit in the last few years.

The company felt unless long term measures are implemented, the traffic congestion in the city would not ease.

"There are over 3 million vehicles in Bangalore leading to chaos on the roads throughout the day. Projects such as road-widening and flyover construction will not address the problem. The state has to make special budgetary allocations for the city. I hope the governor will look into the issue," Infosys BPO Chairman T V Mohandas Pai told reporters on Friday.

He pointed out that the delay in commissioning the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) stretch between Mysore Road and Hosur Road was impacting the movement of IT professionals to the Electronics City.

"The PRR being developed by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) is almost complete. They need 36 acres before opening the road for traffic. If the project is completed, it will create a new access road for over 100,000 professionals working in Electronics City," he added.

Pai pointed out that the Electronics City Association had presented several memoranda to the state seeking completion of the PRR at the earliest. "Unfortunately, it is not happening," he said.

The access road project to the new Bangalore International Airport near Devanahalli had met with the same fate. "Travellers from Jayanagar and other parts of south Bangalore need at least three hours to reach the new airport whereas the flight duration between Bangalore and Chennai or Hyderabad is not even an hour," he said.

Pai said when Infosys Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy was the chairman of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd, he had recommended the development of an exclusive road from the city.

"In the last two years, nothing has happened. The governor is now proposing a dedicated rail link project. But that will take at least three years to materialise. The commuters will face a lot of inconvenience," he stated.

He said the IT industry favoured retention of the existing HAL airport for domestic flights even after the new international airport becomes operational in March.

"We are aware that BIAL, operator of the new airport, has been granted various concessions. But the government has to look at it practically. The interests of the citizens are more important than the airport operators," he added.

Infosys operates out of multiple campuses in the city. By the end of the year, 25,000 employees of the company will be based in Bangalore. The company is expanding rapidly in Pune which is set to become the largest centre for the company next fiscal.