The Karnataka government late Monday cleared the proposals of IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd to set up two more software development centres in this tech hub at an investment of Rs.2,950 crore (Rs.29.5 billion).

'The state high level clearance committee cleared the investment proposals of Infosys to set up two development centres at Sarjapur (in southeast suburb) and another at Devanahalli (in northwest suburb) near the international airport,' Major Industries Minister Murugesh R. Nirani told reporters here.

Infosys director T.V. Mohandas Pai confirmed that the global software major had sought clearance to set up two more development centres in the city as part of its expansion plans.

'If they have cleared the proposals, it is good. Yes, we have applied for clearance to set up two new centres,' Pai told IANS.

Infosys main software development centre and corporate headquarters are located in the Electronics City on the outskirts of Bangalore, where about 16,000 techies work.

The $4.5 billion company had acquired 365 acres of private land at Sarjapur and approached the state government for another 40 acres at Devanahalli.

The Sarjapur campus will be the company's second largest facility in terms of area after its Mysore campus, where its global corporate leadership centre and the world's largest training centre are located in 700 acres of land.

Infosys plans to invest Rs.2,250 crore in the Sarjapur development centre to seat about 18,000 employees, and Rs.710 crore in the Devanahalli centre to create capacity for 12,000 employees. The second facility will be located in the proposed IT investment region near the airport.

Incidentally, Infosys rival Wipro Ltd has its corporate headquarters and second development facility in the city at Sarjapur.

'The state government has given all approvals to Infosys for land conversion and commencing the work from July this year,' Nirani said.

Infosys currently employs 113,796 people at its development centres in India and abroad.

The committee, headed by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, also cleared a Wipro investment proposal to set up a greenfield IT park on over 50 acres on Sarjapur road at a cost of Rs.537 crore for creating an additional 25,000 jobs.

Like Infosys, Wipro also has its largest software development facility in the Electronics City on Hosur road.

In the run-up to the upcoming Karnataka Global Investors' Meet (GIM 2010) June 3-4, the committee cleared about 60 investment proposals, involving investments worth Rs.60,330 crore, with employment potential for 307,000 people.

Among the big-ticket proposals are from Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) to set up a five-million tonnes per annum cement plant at Chitradurga in central Karnataka with an investment of Rs.2,500 crore, Bharat Forge proposals to set up a 540 MW coal-based thermal power project in the state at Rs.1,584 crore and natural gas-based power plant of 665 MW at a cost of Rs.1,625 crore.

The other major proposals include two 660 MW thermal power plants by the Hyderabad-based Luxor Energy Ltd at an investment of Rs.5,903 crore and a gas-based power plant by Luxor Power Ltd of 1,104 MW capacity at an estimated cost of Rs.4,041 crore.

The committee also cleared the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposal to set up a currency note paper manufacturing plant at a cost of Rs.1,180 crore at Mysore, about 140 km from Bangalore.

'The state government will sign agreements with the promoters at the GIM June 3,' Nirani added.

Source: IANS