KALABURAGI; IT and BT Minister S.R. Patil on Monday said that the question of Infosys moving out of Karnataka would not arise and the state government had already initiated measures to meet the deficiencies in the IT Park at Devanahalli from where the Infosys wanted to move out.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Patil said that “Infosys has an emotional bondage with Karnataka…Infosys is the child of Karnataka, it took birth in Karnataka and was nourished by Kannadigas. Infosys would not break this bondage”.
He clarified that Infosys had never said that they were leaving Karnataka. They had only said that they want to move out the proposed project at IT park in Devanahalli to the Electronics City.
Pointing out that Infosys had been allotted 40 acres of land in the Devanahalli IT Park, the minister said the IT firm had written to the government to take back the allotted land and reimburse 20 per cent of the cost which they had already paid, while referring to lack of infrastructure facilities at the IT Park.
Mr. Patil said that he had held discussions with the Infosys authorities to identify the deficiencies in the IT park. Their main demand was construction of a four-lane road from Kempegowda International Airport at Devanahalli to the IT park, providing treated drinking water and stabilising the power supply to the IT park. “On my initiative, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chaired a meeting of senior officials and a threadbare discussion was held to attend to the deficiencies in the IT Park,” he said.
He said that the four-lane road from the International airport to the IT Park, providing treated drinking water and stabilising the power connection would be done within three months. “We have intimated the decisions of the state government to the Infosys and waiting for their response. I am confident that the Infosys or any other IT company from Karnataka would not move out of the state,” he said.
