MindTree plans to invest $20.5 mn in '09-10

Bangalore-based MindTree, an IT solution company, is planning to invest around $20.5 million (Rs 102 crore) towards capital expenditure this year in 2009-10. The company is also planning to set up a new facility in Bhubaneswar.

Speaking to Business Standard at the Emerge Out Conclave 2008, organised by NASSCOM in Chennai on Wednesday Krishnakumar Natarajan, managing director and chief executive officer, MindTree said the proposed investment of $20.5 million is up from $11.5 million last year. The investment will be towards creating additional facilities in Chennai and Bangalore.

At Chennai, the company is setting up a facility to accommodate 3000 people at Mahindra City which will focus on software development. Similarly the company has acquired 20 acre of land in Bhubaneswar for setting up a software testing and product development facility. Investment on the new facility is in the drawing stage, he added.

Natarajan said all these facilities will be to address future requirements, so it will not accommodate all the 3000 immediately. “It’s all depend on how business is going to pick up and when the economy bounce back.”

In 2009-10, the company is planning to recruit 250 people from the campus. Currently it employs 7860 people across the globe.

For the year-ending 2009, MindTree’s consolidated revenue rose 46.1 percent to $269.1 million while net profit fell 55.5 percent to $11.4 million, it said in a statement.

For the fiscal 2009-10 the company had set a target to increase the revenue to $290-300 million (around Rs 1,450 crore to Rs 1,500 crore) and net profit to $38-39 million (Rs 190 crore to Rs 195 crore).

The company is looking at verticals including energy and independent testing in infrastructure, which would lead the growth, said Natarajan.