[shankar.balan]

Quite a shocker in this morning's BLR Mirror.

Lead article in the front page talks about Infosys HQ and Ops moving on from Bangalore and heading to PUNE.

Citing issues with government apathy and insensitivity etc, Infosys feels the pastures may be greener in Pune.

The BLR MIRROR is certainly a bit of a sensationalist rag, but this definitely gives food for thought.

K'taka govt has not been successful in attracting any new investment to the state - lets say from the Automotive sector as well as others. They seem to still be riding heavily on past laurels. I think since the SM Krishna Govt in 2004-2005, all successive state governments have been singularly insular, short-sighted, corrupt and useless.

However, it must have taken a lot of thought on the part of Infosys senior management to allow such an article to appear in the paper. Where there is smoke, there must be atleast some sparks, if not a fire!

any views and inputs on this?

and any idea whats going to happen to the property market in the light of such an announcement?

Considering that practically every builder/ developer worth his salt in BLR cites attractions like "next to proposed Infy IT park, campus or whatever" when he is hawking his wares via the media!!

[Vid6639]

I have nothing against Infy but, Yippeeeeee lesser traffic on Hosur road.

[sgiitk]

I will be surprised to say the least. I think they may now expand more in places other than Bangalore.

[ajmat]

I may not be totally accurate but

1: Infosys might be making a noise to get subsidised land for which it does not deserve since they make good enough money or
2: The governemnt is not helping them to acquire land if they are paying the market rate.
3: If 2 is the case, the land in question may have been robbed from the poor
4: If I am wrong in 1,2,3 then it is simply that Bangalore is too expensive to keep people in, be it housing salary etc. Being a "value added sweatshop", a marginally lower salary translates to a big impact on profit

[shankar.balan]

1. Sabre rattling exercise? Yes I am inclined to agree there to an extent. But I believe they've already been granted some massive 400-500 acres somewhere near the K'taka TN border between Sarjapur and Attibele.
2. Yes also to the fact that things take forever plus, to move in the shadowy corridors of government - whether subsidized land or whatever else.
3. Infy appears to be a bit of a sweatshop from what I hear from the marketplace. and it is true that marginally lower salaries can help its bottomline go up a bit. I am not too sure however, that the move to Pune will necessarily translate to a marginally lower wage bill.
4. The move to Pune may create the same kind of artificial chaos in the supply-demand situation there - especially for housing, apartments, land, property etc.

Originally Posted by ajmat

1: Infosys might be making a noise to get subsidised land for which it does not deserve since they make good enough money or
2: The governemnt is not helping them to acquire land if they are paying the market rate.
4: If I am wrong in 1,2,3 then it is simply that Bangalore is too expensive to keep people in, be it housing salary etc. Being a "value added sweatshop", a marginally lower salary translates to a big impact on profit

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Quite a shocker in this morning's BLR Mirror.

Lead article in the front page talks about Infosys HQ and Ops moving on from Bangalore and heading to PUNE.

Citing issues with government apathy and insensitivity etc, Infosys feels the pastures may be greener in Pune.

The BLR MIRROR is certainly a bit of a sensationalist rag, but this definitely gives food for thought.

What exactly are these issues ?

I am sure that these issues would be faced by all IT companies in Bangalore. Then why is only Infy making noise ?

I also feel that Infy is just trying arm-twisting tactics on the government to get more of subsidised land.

If at all Infy wants to move out of Bangalore, why not set an example by setting up their HQ in a tier-2 city like Mysore ?

Originally Posted by vid6639

I have nothing against Infy but, Yippeeeeee lesser traffic on Hosur road.

Same here. Just imagine - no Infy buses on the elevated expressway.

Rohan

[kutlee]

going lean is the manthra now..

[mac187]

I know for a fact that Infy is coming up with a new office on Sarjapur road. 15kms from the Wipro office.

Sounds like some random article to me.

[shankar.balan]

Poor old lady of faded greatness - the lovely town of Mysore - she has been living in anticipation for the last few years of her second chance to come back to fame.
But it looks increasingly like she has been passed over and left on the shelf in favour of the newer glitzy model of Pune as it were!

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

If at all Infy wants to move out of Bangalore, why not set an example by setting up their HQ in a tier-2 city like Mysore ?

[Gansan]

This is the natural consequence of becoming hostage to one industry.

[evilshantanu]

They are not moving out of Bangalore, whatever expansion plans they had for Bangalore, now they would be for Pune. For the simple reason that the government is not interested in Infosys's expansion here.

Their head quarters would continue being Bangalore, maybe as a direct effect of it, the new projects and the major recruitments might start in their Pune DC. and ultimately Pune might have bigger strength as compared to Namma Bengaluru

This Yeddi government is good for nothing, all they are bothered about are Reddy brothers....

[tj123]

Around 2 weeks back there was a news item in CNBC that Infy is not going ahead with its expansion plan at Sarjapur location citing political insensitivity & some hurdles.
One way it is good , let other locations also grow and create a health competiive environment. Bangalore is in a terrible mess with lot of curruption.

Banglore needs some serious replanning before thinking of further growth.

[pramodkumar]

The Nascom Survey puts Bangalore at rank 2 for getting the best heads in the market, but the actual truth is, about 90% of the crowd is outsiders, for them Pune is as good as Bangalore. For small companies its a risk to get client confidence while running their shows in small tier 2 cities, but for big wigs like infy it would not be a problem at all. The work environment at kerala was considered not at all conducive 5-7 years back, I remember seeing an interview with Azim premji where in he was putting up a new IT campus in kerala and every one was negative and went up to the extent saying that if he sees any union related issues he will shut shop immediately. But has that stopped any companies from coming here? I dont think the problem is political, its more of cutting rising infra and manpower cost, in cities like Bangalore its difficult to get a decent meal at 100 Rs forget other things, most of the people are moving to small cities to cut costs so are companies.


Pramod

[mkh]

Could be true, but what is really sad is that a company that has not only put Bangalore but India on the world map has to struggle to get the right attention and resources. For years all EC companies had to put up with pathetic roads and infrastructure. The elevated highway is done but still the drainage maybe lacking big time. I think smaller places especially mysore and Mangalore should get a chance to develop, maybe even cities outside karnataka for the govt to wake up. Whatever said and done, Gujarat is showing the other states what actual development and focus on the state is all about!

[shankar.balan]

this is an interesting bit of info.
yes BLR could do with a super cleanup - no doubt about it.
and rising costs are not helping residents of this city at all.

Originally Posted by tj123

Around 2 weeks back there was a news item in CNBC that Infy is not going ahead with its expansion plan at Sarjapur location citing political insensitivity & some hurdles.
One way it is good , let other locations also grow and create a health competiive environment. Bangalore is in a terrible mess with lot of curruption.

Banglore needs some serious replanning before thinking of further growth.