Infosys' 550 acre campus in Hyderabad a 'no-no'

Hyderabad, Apr 15: IT bellwether Infosys's may have faced no problem in compiling its annual results which it declared on Friday, but its plan to establish a 550-acre campus in Hyderabad has run into rough weather.

The plan was touted by the AP government as a major success of its efforts to build Hyderabad as a major software destination rivalling Bangalore. But ironically, it is the failure of the administration to provide Infosys the 550 acres promised that has led to the setback.

Though the company as yet is not talking about it, informed sources say that the Infosys representatives have told the state government that the company will find a longer wait extremely difficult.

Infosys has held on for over 15 months to take possession of 550 acres promised to it by the state government at Mamidipalli on the outskirts of Hyderabad. This is to be their second campus in the city.

About 100 acres of the 550 acres earmarked for the company is currently caught in the legal wrangles between IMG and the state government. The allotment to IMG for a sports academy has been cancelled but the matter is now in the courts.

"Infosys has told us that their existing campus will be full shortly and they will have to look for more space now,"a highly placed government source told TOI. Infosys's 50-acre campus at Manikonda currently employs about 9,000 professionals.

Infosys was roped into the state for setting up its largest campus at a time when the company had come under fire from senior politicians in Karnataka last year. After prolonged negotiations over the location and the price, the company was allotted 550 acres for the campus on the outskirts of the city.

While the land identified is close to the new international airport, the company had agreed to pay Rs 12 lakh per acre. The company and the government had signed an agreement for the project in March last year. It's only after signing the agreement, the officials found out that about 100 acres of the allotted land was already assigned to IMG.

On finding this, Infosys asked the government to allot an alternative site to avoid any delay in the project execution. But after a detailed survey, the officials failed to find another 550 acres plot for allotment. "Now it is difficult for us to find the entire land at a single location.

If we have to give, we have to do it in bits and pieces,"the official said. Infosys officials were not available for a comment.

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