Infosys refutes Gowda's charges on land allotment

The rift between former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and Infosys deepened further on Friday when the software major refuted statements made by Deve Gowda that land had been indiscriminately allotted through Karnataka Industries Area Development board (KIADB) in the name of development of IT industry.

In this connection, he had also named Infosys Technologies. In a reply to his statements, Infosys gave details of land assets and investments it had made and said it had not received any favours for the land. The company shared details on software development activities and also on the jobs it has created in the state.

Gowda had over the past week said "... indiscriminate allotment of land through KIADB in the name of development of IT Industry... Some of the IT companies including Infosys Technologies have already taken substantial land in the name of IT development in different cities of our state. What exactly is the employment generated against the extent of land allotted is a matter to be examined carefully. Infosys has acquired land measuring 78 acres in Bangalore, 350 acres in Mysore."

He had further said Infosys had recently applied for about 845 acres in Ittangooru, V Kallahali, Yamare, Sarjapura in Bangalore and surrounding areas of the city.

In response, Infosys said it had made an application to a high-level government committee for land in 2000.

"No land was granted to us. We had made subsequent applications which had been approved on three different occasions. Infosys had requested KIADB to acquire the land after securing zoning requirements from the government. The land is being acquired on a consent basis and after paying the market price. No special concession has been sought from the government," the company said.

Infosys added that the land had been sought as two different plots. On one plot of land, a software development centre would be set up and on the other a residential facility, hospital and school would be made for their employees.

According to Infosys, this will generate employment for 25,000 people. Infosys stressed that both the plots would be fully utilised with a proposed investment of Rs 1,500 crore in the first phase.

"All these proposals have been vetted by various departments of the Karnataka government and have been reviewed and approved by high-level committees headed by various chief ministers of Karnataka," the company added.

The company said, "Our total investment in Karnataka amounts to Rs 1,744 crore. We have built our premises within the prescribed norms."

KIADB terms allow a FAR (floor area ratio of 1.5 and land cover of 30 per cent. We have built our campuses within these norms." The company went ahead to say that out of the 46,000 employees, 22,000 jobs had been created in Karnataka alone.

"Infosys' software exports from Karnataka amount to 14 per cent of the total IT exports of Karnataka and we have generated employment for over 2,500 workers from around the campuses in Karnataka," the company highlighted.

In Mysore, Infosys said out of the allotted 315.6 acres, the company had built a Global Education Centre and Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI) covering an area of 218 acres. The education centre is one of the largest in the world and has the capacity to train 4,500 people.

In Mangalore, the company has been allotted 311 acres out of the government-acquired 550 acres for an IT-SEZ in Mangalore.

The company said the land had been acquired at market rates and about 155 acres will be fully utilised with an investment of Rs 300 crore, to create 6,000 seats in the first phase.