Cognizant to invest $500m in real estate in next four years

Chennai, Feb 7 (PTI) IT major Cognizant today announcedits intention to pump in more than500 million in the nextfour years in real estate develpment as part of its expansionprogramme.

The company will invest the amount through the end of2014 to expand its owned campus footprint with the addition ofover 8 million square feet, which will have the capacity tohouse more than 55,000 employees, a statement said today.

"This current real estate expansion program is part ofour ongoing strategy of investing in our people, processes,systems, and infrastructure to support our long-term growth,"said Gordon Coburn, Chief Financial and Operating Officer ofCognizant.

The real estate development program would createadditional software development and training facilities in theSpecial Economic Zones in Chennai, Pune, Coimbatore, andKolkata, the statement said.

In addition to the construction of owned facilities,Cognizant would continue to actively lease additionalfacilities throughout India to meet its future staffingrequirements, it said.

"We will continue to evaluate opportunities for furtherconstruction expansion over the coming years", Coburn added.