India’s second largest information technology (IT) service provider Infosys Technologies is set to begin construction for its Rajarhat campus within six months, Infosys managing director and CEO, Kris Gopalakrishnan said here today.
“Construction work at the Rajarhat campus will begin in six months’ time. We are looking at investing Rs 75 crore at the campus which, when completed, will employ around 15,000-20,000 people,” he said.
The company has already paid Rs 19 crore, which is about 25 per cent of the overall sum, to the state government.
Gopalakrishnan chose to distance himself from Rajarhat controversy, however, stating that the company is not going to be a part of politics.
“We are looking at employment creation in West Bengal in particular and the region in general. We are not in any politics,” he said.
Work on the project will take place in a phased manner over the next six months, he said, completing the pool of talent in the state.
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He was, however, visibly wary of the possibility of political problems and stressed on the requirement of state support.
“For successful project initiation, we would require support from everybody here, like we have received support in Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad so that we are able to make the project successful in the interests of talent from the region,” he said.
The Infosys team has been in touch with the West Bengal IT department since the West Bengal Housing minister, Gautam Deb, announced on November 23 that Infosys had purchased 50 acres at Rajarhat.
“The Infosys CEO met the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, before formalising the announcement. They are looking at starting operations within six months,” said state IT minister Debesh Das.
Until the Rajarhat project was announced, the Infosys presence in the East was restricted to their Bhubaneswar operations, where they currently employ 3,500 employees.
While, the new centre would work towards operational independence, the Bhubaneswar centre will provide assistance.
“While every Infosys operations centre functions independently, in the 6-8 months that it takes the centre to become self sufficient, it will continue to draw expertise from the Bhubaneswar centre,” said Abhjit Sen, associate vice-president and centre head, Infosys Bhubaneswar.
Infosys, it might be noted, had been trying to set up operations in the city for over six years. The process had been hampered by unrealistic land prices and the Vedic Village controversy since 2006.
Rajarhat has come under the controversial land acquisition radar recently, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) repeatedly taking on the state administration alleging charges of illegal acquisition.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has gone on record again and again in the recent weeks saying that they will agitate against the land acquisition process, claiming that many land losers have not received appropriate compensation.