Infosys Technologies has announced that it will start its operations in Kerala by January 1, 2004. The Infosys centre will be initially housed in a rented 55,800 sq ft space in the 'Bhavani' block of the Technopark campus in Thiruvananthapuram.

Infosys will commence operations with approximately 50 software professionals and ramp up operations over the next 2-3 years. Future expansion plans in Kerala will depend on the business growth from this centre.

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"We are happy to announce the start of our centre in Kerala. We are looking forward to our operations in this state which has made considerable improvement in promoting IT and attracting investment.

"Kerala has a large talent pool which is critical for the growth of the people-intensive software industry. We will be recruiting in Kerala in line with business requirements," Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys Technologies, said.

According to Aruna Sundararajan, IT secretary, government of Kerala, "Infosys' centre is proof of the landmark changes made by the government in attracting worldclass organisations to the state. We wish Infosys all success in this venture and hope the development centre in Kerala will be a model for others to follow."

The agreement was signed between Infosys vice president (commercial and facilities) H R Binod and the Technopark chief executive officer H R Mahalingam.

Kerala minister for IT and industries P K Kunhalikutty, who was present at the signing ceremony, said that Infosys would initially operate its development center out of leased premises admeasuring 55,000 square feet from within the Technopark campus.

Within a year the company would also start construction on its own 50-acre campus in the neighbourhood of the Technopark.

Promising all government help to Infosys for developing the campus, the minister said the company would be given land at concessional rate as stated in the Kerala Information Technology Policy.

The company's own campus, when fully ready, is expected to accommodate around 5,000 people. The campus would be similar to Infosys's other development centers across the country, said Binod.

Kunhalikutty hoped that with the arrival of Infosys in Kerala, other IT majors too would now announce their plans to set up shop here.

Infosys has development centres in Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Mysore, Mohali and Pune.