Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Satyam Computer MD B. Rama Raju in Calcutta on Friday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Feb. 24: Satyam Computer Services Limited will set up a technology centre in phases that will have a staff strength of 2000. The company will also set up a business process outsourcing (BPO) arm soon. It will ramp up its headcount at the city centre to 10000 in the next few years.

A team from Infosys Technologies, which might include chief financial officer T.V. Mohan Das Pai, is also set to visit the city next week. The team will hold discussions on the prospect of finding a suitable land to set up a base in the state, Bengal IT secretary G.D. Gautama said.

?We have taken a 2.77-acre plot, which would be developed in two phases ? the first would involve 800 people. The company plans to employ 2000 people by 2008,? Satyam Computer managing director B. Rama Raju said at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the centre.

The company would also be looking at more land after a year when its operations would be in full swing. It ideally wants to set up a 40-50-acre campus.

According to Raju, many of the company?s professionals, who are Calcutta-based, prefer to return to the city on assignments. The company can relocate these staff to its setup here. Satyam will initially set up the BPO business at a rented place with 200-300 employees.

?We are currently present in five cities in the country and Calcutta is the sixth. Going by the availability of trained manpower and infrastructure coupled with the state government?s co-operation, the Calcutta centre will emerge among the top three in the country,? Raju said.

The investment per person for such projects hover around Rs 5-10 lakh.

The second phase of the construction would include amenities like a club, guest house, cafeteria and landscaped recreational area.