HUBBALLI: To force Infosys to start its Hubballi campus, people in the region have started an online petition and campaign demanding the IT giant start operations here.
In a bid to be closer to the available talent pool, Infosys planned to move to tier-II cities and also it wished to start its campus in Hubballi. For this, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board allotted 43.05 acres of land under the special economic zone (SEZ) category. In phase-I, the company developed campus with a built-up area of 3.64 lakh sqft by 2018, which has a capacity to house 1400 employees. But in the last four years, it had not started operations here.
Though the government assured of giving all support to start its Hubballi campus, Infosys has not yet decided on it and recently it announced opening its campuses at Vizag, Kolkata, Indore and other cities to go near to talent pool. Therefore people in Hubballi city and the north Karnataka region have filed an online petition at www.change.org and signed the petition.
A group in Hubballi launched the online petition to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, IT and BT Minister C S Ashwath Narayan, Infosys board of directors chairman Nandan Nilekani and others. In the last few days, more than 2,300 people have signed the petition.
The group also started online campaigning, where people from various places have been joining the discussion on social media platforms. In a virtual meet that was held on Thursday evening, IT professionals from Infosys, Oracle and other firms, and professionals from non-IT sectors also joined the meet.
They opined that instead of investing in other places to start its campus, Infosys should make use of its, already, invested campus in Hubballi. The city has good connectivity by air, railway and road. Most of the talents from the North Karnataka region are ready to move to Hubballi as it will be near to natives. For recreational activities, Hubballi is surrounded by many tourist places such as Hampi, Badavi caves, Pattadakallu, Kudalasangama, Dandeli, many cascades, and even Goa which is just 150 km away. “If Infosys don't want to move its staff from Bengaluru, it can move a few managers, who can recruit new staff to start the Hubballi campus,” they suggested.
Santosh Nargund, an ex-aerospace scientist, said the government is thinking Beyond Bengaluru, therefore it should provide all facilities to Infosys to start its Hubballi campus. If the IT giant comes here, the whole atmosphere will change in Hubballi as the other IT and other sector firms will start their campus here.
“There is a plan to hold onfield campaignings like approaching CM Bommai and explaining how it will help to develop the region, approaching Sudha Murthy chairperson of Infosys Foundation and other influencers,” he added.