Infosys submits Mission Bhubaneswar planDillip Satapathy / Bhubaneswar March 09, 2006Even as Orissa grapples with the problem of finding a perfect roadmap for rapid industrialisation, software major Infosys has offered it a blueprint, which, when transformed into reality, may catapult the state to the position of intellectual, cultural and business heart of eastern India. The blueprint, code-named Mission Bhubaneswar, was presented to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through an hour-long powerpoint presentation by Infosys chief financial officer T V Mohandas Pai yesterday. "Bhubaneswar should become the educational centre of the country. Invite India's 20 best private schools to open (centres) here to offer quality education," Pai said as the Chief Minister, his principal secretary Bijoy Patnaik and a host of bureaucrats listened with rapt attention. Stating that the IT sector is booming, Pai said the industry was going to hire around 10 lakh staffers over the next five years. With only 33 engineering colleges, the state does not have the capacity to meet the demand, he said. Pai suggested that the government should invite top 100 engineering colleges of the country to put up campuses here so that more number of engineering students could be produced. Southern states have become IT hubs because they produce over 2.75 lakh engineers as against 20,000 in Orissa. Pai offered the help of Infosys to hone the soft skills of engineering graduates of the state in getting better placements in IT and IT-enabled service companies. "Aim to have at least 1 lakh students in centres of higher education", he said. On infrastructure, Pai said Singapore should be Bhubaneswar's role model. The state should rope in builders from Singapore, Japan, Korea and other countries to set up business parks here. "Target high-value industries like asset management companies, brokerages and investment banks to create a financial district," Pai said.Following the presentation, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is learnt to have assigned the job of working on Pai's suggestions to three senior IAS officers
