Bangalore’s loss is Pune’s gain

The country’s second largest software company has been trying for three years to acquire land in Bangalore’s Sarjapur area to expand its operations, without making any headway.

This, said Nandita Gurjar, HR head at Infosys, had forced the tech firm to execute its expansion plans in Pune, where it has sufficient land. “Since we didn’t get land in Bangalore, we have started adding more seats at our Pune campus. That will make Pune the largest delivery centre in the country, in terms of seats and campus size,” said Gurjar.

Infosys currently has 28,905 seats on a 42.95 lakh sq ft built-up space in Bangalore and 24,314 seats on 46.24 lakh sq ft of built-up area in Pune. As per data provided by Infosys during the October to December quarter of this fiscal, it has acquired 5.2 acres in Bangalore. But, apparently, this has come a little too late.

Going by the software exporter’s plans, Pune will soon overtake Bangalore. Infosys has started adding 8,600 seats on a 7.83-lakh sq ft space in Pune. This will take its number of seats to 32,914 in Pune, which would be significantly ahead of Bangalore. This is a clear case of how Karnataka is paying dearly for the indifference of its political leaders.

“Surely new investors will think twice before setting up base in this part of the country. Also, firms will be hesitant in taking up new projects or expanding the existing ones,” said Mohandas Pai, director, Infosys Technologies.