Hyderabad — Cognizant Technology Solutions, which recently became the fourth largest provider of IT services in India, Friday announced plans to invest over $30 million to expand its infrastructure here.
The company will invest in building a 500,000 square feet facility in the special economic zone (SEZ) to create capacity for 5,000 new employees, said Lakshmi Narayanan, president and CEO, Cognizant.
He told a news conference that the company had acquired nine acres in SEZ to build the first fully owned techno facility. It also planned to lease space in SEZ to expand is operations.
This will be the largest investment in Hyderabad since the company launched its operations in 2002 through an acquisition. From 200 associates four years ago, the company now has 2,000 associates.
This investment is part of Cognizant’s larger programme to spend over $200 million by the end of 2008 to build new facilities in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune – in over three million square feet and capacity of over 30,000 new employees.
Narayanan also revealed that the Andhra Pradesh government had agreed to provide an additional large piece of land in SEZ for Cognizant.
“The additional land will be several times bigger than the one already allotted. The government is expected to soon make an announcement in this regard,” he said.
The company decided to set up the facility in SEZ because it offered not only an opportunity to take advantage of tax benefits but also a highly productive environment.
He said the company decided to go for major expansion in Hyderabad as it was developing fast and offered the best environment for Cognizant, which recently surpassed Satyam Computer Service Ltd in revenues to become fourth largest IT service provider.
“Our strategy of making ahead-of-the-curve investments in our people and infrastructure has established Cognizant among the top tier companies in the offshore outsourcing industry,” he said.
“Building large facilities in India is a key a part of our strategy. We expect our new construction programme will enable us to meet growing customer demand in North America, Europe, South America and Asia and continue to attract the industry’s most talented and best people,” he added.
The Nasdaq-listed company, which has 38,000 employees globally, clocked $1.405 billion revenues during 2006, a growth rate of 58 percent. The company recorded highest growth in last three quarters.
“We have far exceeded our original plans for Hyderabad in the last four years. The Hyderabad development centre focuses on three key industry segments – financial services, healthcare and information, media and entertainment,” said Shankar Srinivasan, vice-president and head of Hyderabad operations, Cognizant.