By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : India's IT major Infosys Technologies Ltd Saturday began construction of its first campus in Kerala, apart from a leases facility here, with plans to invest Rs.3.06 billion (nearly $75 million) for expansion in the state.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the new campus here was performed in the presence of Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.
Infosys co-founder and board member K. Dinesh said: "We have plans to invest Rs.306 crore and set up a state-of-the-art campus, which would include facilities for work and recreation for our employees. We expect to create 8,000 seats at this centre over the next few years."
The firm has been operating in the state out of a leased facility in the Technopark campus since 2004.
The leased unit, set up with an investment of Rs.300 million, has a capacity of 1,100 seats.
With the completion of its own new campus coming up near Technopark, Infosys will have two full-fledged operations in the city.
Achuthanandan said Kerala was emerging as a key IT destination in south India.
"Infosys ramping up its presence in our state is a reaffirmation of this fact. The magnitude of Infosys' investment in its development centre demonstrates its long-term commitment towards Kerala and speaks volumes about the world-class facilities on offer here for its employees," he said.
The first phase of the new campus would be ready in a year.
The Bangalore-headquartered Infosys has centres in Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mangalore and Mysore.