Big plans

Calcutta, Dec. 4: Cognizant is planning to expand its operations in Bengal.

The IT major is working on the second phase expansion of its Bantala facility in the city and has drawn up the financial plans. On completion, the facility will have a seating capacity of approximately 4,000. Cognizant is also in discussions with the state government for an additional 40 acres of land.

This is part of the company’s plans to invest $500 million through 2014 to expand its campus footprint in Calcutta, Chennai, Pune and Coimbatore.

The company has also started operations on 275 lakh square feet space in Unitech at Rajarhat taken on lease. This facility is expected to have a total seating capacity of close to 2,700.

“Our facility — named the Green Tech Park (GTP) at Bantala — already has close to 3,500 people working. We started our operations in GTP towards the end of 2009,” said Subho Samanta, senior vice-president and head of Calcutta operations, Cognizant, while speaking to The Telegraph.

The Bantala facility is also the first green building among major IT campuses in Calcutta to receive a silver rating in the LEED green building certification from the Indian Green Building Council.

When asked about the tannery issues plaguing the complex, Samanta said, “The IT companies in Bantala have worked with the state IT department and the promoter M.L.Dalmiya and Company to implement a solution that will help segregate the areas used by tanneries and the IT firms. The administration is also pressing for canal segregation work and effluent treatment plants for better effluence management in this high-employment zone.”

From its centres in Calcutta, Cognizant provides consulting, enterprise applications, IT infrastructure and business process services to its global clients in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, retail and hospitality, communication, information, media and entertainment.