by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore
Bangalore, Jan 13: Although Bangalore was an attractive location for the Information and Communication Technology industry, there was an acute paucity of space for any further expansion. In that backdrop, Infosys Technologies would look for other regions to expand its establishment, particularly to keep costs down, T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chief Financial Officer of the Company said here on Wednesday.
The company has not been able to secure 845 acres of land needed for its expansion plans in and around Bangalore for the past four years, although not cash-strapped. Pai explained further that the reason for looking elsewhere was not merely unavailability of land. Moving around on the Bangalore roads had become very difficult due to excessive density of vehicles resulting in traffic snarls, Pai observed, adding that Chennai and Pune were being seriously considered for expansion. Thus, additional exployment would not happen in Bangalore, the company's workforce being raised to around 50,000.
Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys Technologies, endorsing Pai's statements, has said that the company was keen on its growth but would have to pursue a path of least resistance, particularly from the viewpoint of infrastructure.
Out of 41,600 employees of the company, 16,000 were in Bangalore and that proportion was gradually declining, Nilekani explained.
Most companies in the IT industry would no longer plan to recruit additional personnel in Bangalore in future, he opined.
He said that Bangalore and Mangalore had no space to add additional capacity.
Mysore
Although Mysore city has been figuring prominently as an alternative to Bangalore as a promising destination for more units of the established companies and new units in IT sector, the stand taken by Infosys Technologies to look for pastures outside Bangalore and also Karnataka, seems to convey the message to the State Government that it had failed to improve the infrastructure of power, communication and roads, vital for the IT industry.
NRN's earlier hint
It may be mentioned here that Infosys Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy while delivering D.V. Narasimha Rao Memorial lecture at the Institution of Engineers in Mysore on Jan. 3, in an apparent reference to former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's hostile attitude, had cautioned that IT companies may move out of Karnataka and also India, if the infrastructure was not upgraded.
Deve Gowda had warned the State Government against allotment of land to Infosys saying that it would invite public criticism.
Infosys has announced its decision to move out hardly a day after the issue was raised by Star of Mysore at the media conference of Union communications and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran at Mumbai on Jan. 10.