Punjab/National News- Narayana Murthy to depute top level team to evaluate establishing Infosys campus at Mohali

Bangalore, September 30, 2013: Infosys Chairman Dr N R Narayana Murthy today said Infosys would send a top level team to Punjab to evaluate establishment of a campus at the Knowledge Park in Mohali following a proposal made by Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Following a proposal made by the Deputy chief minister during an interaction at the Infosys headquarters here, Naryana Murthy said the company could establish a 100 acre campus at Mohali. He requested company senior vice president and head of administration, facilities and infrastructure – U Ramadas Kamath to visit Mohali in October and take a quick decision on establishment of the campus. “We have a dynamic administration there (in Punjab) and we must respond to their request”, he added.

The Deputy Chief minister on his part assured the Infosys chief that the Punjab government had ready land available in the Knowledge Park at Mohali and that it would give all necessary clearances required by the company within fifteen days. “You will see that my government works even faster than you”, he said adding he was keen that Infosys create its campus in Mohali.

Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh while briefing Narayana Murthy on the issue said the State government was keen that Infosys agree to become the anchor unit for the Knowledge Park. He said if the company agreed to the same the government was ready to offer land to it at a special price.

Murthy on his part said in case the company created a campus in Mohali, it would work towards having a capacity of 25,000 employees. He said for this the company needed at least 2.5 million square feet of built up space. The Infosys head said while around 70 acres were needed for this purpose, a 100 acre plot would be ideal as it would allow for a further expansion to 40,000 employees at a later stage. He assured the Deputy chief minister that once the company established a new facility it would start off with 5,000 employees immediately and increase the capacity in stages with full capacity being reached between five to eight years.

Sukhbir Singh Badal also held separate talks with Infosys Executive vice chairman S Gopalakrishnan and Board Member V Balakrishnan besides Head India Business C N Raghupati.

During these discussions Sukhbir Badal offered Infosys to take up Ludhiana and Amritsar cities for complete transformation by integrating all utilities and services. He offered the company that the government was ready to offer them this proposal on the Swiss Challenge pattern whereby the project could be bid and they would have to match the lowest bid.

The Deputy CM also proposed that Infosys could help in modernising the functioning of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). “Please give us a proposal as to how you can make our power utility more efficient”, he said.

The Deputy CM was accompanied by Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, Principal Secretary Industries Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM P S Aujla, Media Adviser to Deputy CM Jangveer Singh and Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Industries) N K Sharma. The visit was coordinated by the CII. EOM