BS Corporate Bureau in Mumbai

Infosys Technologies is planning to increase its headcount at its Orissa development centre at Bhubaneswar to 4,500 personnel and invest Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) over the next few years.

The increased focus for the centre is under the company’s expectations of tier-II cities becoming growth engines for the IT industry in the country.

“Tier-II cities such as Bhubaneswar will be the growth engines for the IT Industry in India. We have taken a lead in this direction by investing more than Rs 135 crore (Rs 1.35 billion) at our Bhubaneswar centre. Realising the potential of the city, we plan to increase our headcount to over 4,500 over the next few years with an added investment of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion),” Infosys Technologies chairman and chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy said.

At present, the development centre employs over 1,720 personnel and contributes about 80 per cent of software exports from Orissa, making it the largest exporter from the Bhubaneswar Software Technology Park of India (STPI).

The Bhubaneswar centre entertains multi-million dollar clients from Canada, Europe and North America. With a total built-up area of over 46 acre, the centre has the capacity to accommodate over 3,300 software professionals.

The centre, which has entered into its tenth year of operations, had also spend over Rs 5.5 crore (Rs 55 million) for various initiatives like primary education, healthcare and rehabilitation of the underprivileged in the state.

Ack : ~ Rediff