Infosys to employ around 3,000 people at New Town campus, says Firhad Hakim

Kolkata: State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim on Wednesday said IT major Infosys has assured him that around 3,000 people will be employed at its proposed campus in New Town.

Expressing his optimism that construction work for the campus will start by May-June this year, the minister stated that the IT major has already taken possession of the 50 acre land for the proposed campus.

"They are going to submit their plan by May. We have online sanction procedure so we are hopeful that things will move very fast," Hakim said on Wednesday.

It may be mentioned that Infosys has paid Rs 50 crore for the land much earlier. It was registered only a few days back though.

Senior Executive Vice-President of Infosys Ramdas Kamath was present during the official handover of the land.

It may be mentioned that Infosys has long been demanding Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status to mark its maiden entry in the state. The company was given 50-acre plot at Rajarhat by the previous Left Front government in 2010. However, it was going slow on the project as the Trinamool Congress government under Mamata Banerjee had clarified that the company will not get the SEZ status, as promised to them by the earlier regime.

Months of discussions had led to Infosys being allowed to convert the land from leasehold to freehold with a condition that at least 51 percent of it will be used for IT and ITeS purposes. The rest can be used by the company as it deems fit, with the state's approval.

"Infosys has agreed to the terms and conditions laid down by us. The company has got a slew of tax incentives. They are going to employ around 3,000 people and job generation has always been the focus area of our government," a senior IT department official said.