Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has exhorted IT companies to look beyond Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram to set up their campuses in the State.

  He was speaking after inaugurating the ground-breaking function of the upcoming campus of Infosys Technologies here on Saturday.

 “I am happy that Infosys has finally decided to build their campus here after almost a year of securing the land for the purpose. I welcome them to set up their campuses in all the 14 districts of the state where the people will readily welcome them,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the Infosys foray into Kerala was an affirmation of the fact that the state was emerging as a key IT destination.

Infosys Technologies Co-founder K Dinesh said the company had plans to invest Rs 306 crore here and set up a state-of-the-art campus which would employ 8,000 people in the next few years.

The existing facility at the Technopark campus here already has 1,100 seats. It has also leased a 40,000 sq ft space in the new block of the Technopark. The new building designed by Hafeez Contractor will be located on 50 acres of land near the Technopark.

Mr Dinesh said the availability of talent was the biggest factor which prompted Infosys to set up its campus here.
Already, professionals from the state were working in different development centres of the company the world over. Law Minister M Vijayakumar, Mayor Jayan Babu and M A Wahid, MLA were among those present on the occasion.