Infy boosts homecoming hope

KOLKATA: What is the biggest takeaway from the arrival of Infosys in Kolkata? Techies from Bengal working in the city or outside the state see a ray of hope. Infosys’ foray will either convince them to stay on, or maybe even persuade them to come back, home.

Agniva Mookherjee, who works with Cognizant as a senior business consultant in Manchester, told TOI that he got to know about Infosys’ massive investment plans on Wednesday. “This is a major milestone in the IT ecosystem prospering in Bengal. It gives a chance for ex-Infosys employees like me to head back to my base and continue working in the IT Industry while enjoying the benefits of living in Kolkata and pursuing dreams of a flourishing career all the way till retirement,” he added.

Rupam Das

, who is with PwC, London, agrees. “This will now give us immense opportunities to come back home as openings in middle management will increase,” he said.

Another IT professional, Arpan Majumdar, who works in a leading IT multi-national company in Bengaluru, said Infosys’ arrival in Kolkata was great news for those who want to stay and work in Kolkata. “Now, they have a solid option like Infosys. It is a big name and we believe that this way, other MNCs could follow suit,” he added.

Dipankar Mazumdar

, who works for Tech Mahindra in Kolkata, was happy that Infosys had finally come to Bengal. He believes other big companies would follow suit and he would be able to reunite with some of his friends who stay in Pune or Bengaluru.

Madhurima Roy, who works Honeywell, sounded excited. “I read it in the newspapers today. It is a really good development. We were discussing this during lunch hour,” she said.

Priyanka Das, who works for Ericsson in Sector V, said: “With Infosys coming to Kolkata, the positivity will spread and encourage other big players to also open shop here, as there is no doubt about the quality of talent available here.” Arindam Nath of Capgemini, Kolkata, said this would come as great news for a lot of professionals who want to stay in Kolkata, close to their family and friends. This would also reduce expenses, he felt.

The Infosys project was initially conceived in April 2008 during the Left Front regime, when the company had evinced interest to pump in over Rs 500 crore and employ over 5,000 people on a 90-acre campus in Rajarhat. But since then, the project had faced hurdles as the plot earmarked for the project got entangled in a land row.

Hidco later resolved the row by offering Infosys the current 50-acre plot in

Rajarhat-New Town

. But the land was finally delivered to the company one year after the Mamata Banerjee government took over. The IT giant demanded an SEZ tag, which went against the Trinamool government’s industrial policy.