- Out of 447 acres, Infosys utilised only 95 acres at Pocharam in Ghatkesar
- TS govt. wants to allot unused land to other IT Companies
- Infosys says it is for future expansion
Hyderabad: About 447 acres of land was sanctioned to Infosys in Pocharam near Ghatkesar by the then Chief Minister, Late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, in 2007 to set up IT Park. All these years, Infosys was able to utilise only 95 acres for its campus and now TRS government proposes to wrest back un used lands. This is mainly because the government is facing land shortage on the city outskirts for allotment to IT companies and other industries. The introduction of TS-IPASS, which is an online approval system for industries through self certification within 21 days created demand in setting up of Industries in the city.
Gachibowli saturated
After Gachibowli is saturated with companies occupying the land, IT companies are looking towards outskirts of the city and now the unused land of Infosys is under scanner of government. Congress government of undivided Andhra Pradesh, under Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy sanctioned 447 acres to Infosys at a price of 12 lakh per acre. Now the land rate has shot up to few crores of rupees per acre in these years.
A committee will look into it
Now the TS Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) plunged into action and submitted a proposal to take back the vacant land of Infosys. TSIIC is the nodal agency for allotment of lands to companies. A committee was appointed by the government which will visit the campus and inspect land and will have consultations with the management of Infosys to persuade giving back the land to the government as per TSIIC sources.
Infosys Says it is for Future expansion
Infosys, in a letter to TSIIC said that the vacant land is for the company’s future expansion and it needs the land for that purpose. It also urged TSIIC not to compare their company with other companies which failed to utilise lands. This is not the first time for Infosys being questioned about the unused land. Same attempt was made during the tenure of Kiran Kumar Reddy, in 2011, then CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh. APIIC served a notice to Infosys to cancel the land allotment, exact reasons were not known but the proposal was later dropped by Kiran Kumar Reddy’s government.
Infosys Explains reason for the delay
After notice was served by APIIC in 2011, Infosys came up with an explanation for the delay in setting up the campus. The government had notified the land as SEZ in 2007 October. And as per rules, Phase 1 has to be completed by 2008, but the delay in Environmental clearance which approved in 2009 was one of the reasons and State government provided water connection to the site in 2010. All these factors contributed for the slow process and delay, Infosys replied
