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Delay in SEZ status for CTP derails Infosys plans
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Bangalore, January 11
Infosys today said it was "getting hurt" by delay in grant of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status to the the Chandigarh Technology Park (CTP), where it has established its facility.

Mr Mohan Das Pai, Chief Finance Officer, Infosys, while talking to The Tribune, said the company's entire schedule had been derailed due to delay in according SEZ status to the CTP. He said the company was scheduled to start its operations in Chandigarh in November last year. “But now, at the earliest, the operations can start in April this year”, he said.

The company has been allotted 20 acres of land in the park and is the anchor company for the first phase of the project.

Mr Pai said even after the proposed SEZ gets approval, the company would need time to get goods released from its bond houses for transfer to Chandigarh. He said the company had also lost out on making recruitments in the second quarter of the financial year as planned. “This is the time when the maximum recruitments are made all over the country", he said, adding that the company had planned to offer 1,000 jobs at its Chandigarh centre. The Chief Finance Officer said the Finance Ministry was yet to give SEZ status to the CTP since the land area covered by the park was much lower than the Central guidelines.

He said the UT Administration had told the company that it was hopeful of an early approval and that it had put forward a compelling case to the Centre, stating that the IT industry was a knowledge-based industry, which did not need the same space as conventional industries.

Meanwhile, the company has decided to continue to run its centre at Mohali for some more time. More than 800 persons are employed at Mohali centre, who will be shifted to the new facility in Chandigarh.

The company is in full growth mood, hiring 4,000 personnel this quarter itself. All nine centres of Infosys, except Bangalore, are showing growth and it wants its Chandigarh centre also to see more growth. Mr Pai said the company had 15 acres of land at Chandigarh at its disposal and after utilising its built-up capacity in the technology park, it would build more according to its needs.

Infosys will employ 3,500 personnel in its facility at Chandigarh. The company is presently employing the highest number of personnel (7,531) in Pune, followed by 5,376 in Chennai, 4,080 in Hyderabad, 2,934 in Mysore, 2,000 in Bhubaneswar, 1,400 in Mangalore, 880 in Trivandrum and 800 personnel in Mohali.