Cognizant puts up Chennai office on market, eyes up to Rs 800 crore deal

Technology major Cognizant has listed its India headquarters in Chennai for sale, a move that could potentially fetch it up to Rs 800 crore, The Times of India reported on Friday.

This property has been the company’s India headquarters for over twenty years. It is spread over a 15-acre land parcel and comprises a four lakh sq ft office space along Chennai’s IT Corridor. 

The company has appointed property advisory firm JLL to handle the sale. Some potential buyers in talks for the deal include local developers such as Baashyaam Group and Casagrand, the report added.

According to the report, Cognizant is considering moving its new India headquarters to the MEPZ campus near Tambaram on GST Road, Chennai. The decision to sell the present Chennai office is aimed at streamlining operations by consolidating them into three of its own buildings at MEPZ, Sholinganallur, and Siruseri.

Cognizant freshers’ pay controversy

Recently, Cognizant was embroiled in a major controversy involving a report about its hiring practices for freshers. The report claimed that the US IT major pays Rs 2.52 lakh annual compensation to freshers, which several people pointed out was a gross exploitation of labour and criticised the firm for not accounting factors such as cost of living, and inflation.

In response to the allegations, the company described the report as “grossly misrepresented.” Surya Gummadi, executive vice-president and president of Cognizant Americas, clarified that the job posting was intended for candidates with non-engineering backgrounds. He said the salary mentioned was designated for non-engineering graduates, while fresh engineering graduates typically receive between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 12 lakh.

However, the criticism persisted for a while as people alleged that pay was still unfair and pointed out that Cognizant’s CEO, Ravi Kumar Singisetti, who is the highest-paid executive in India, received $22.56 million (approximately Rs 186 crore) as compensation last year.

The company also made headlines last week after it announced the appointment of Rajesh Varrier as global head of operations and the chairman and MD for India.