T.V. Mohandas Pai (second from left) at the meeting with Naveen Patnaik. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, May 29: Infosys has plans to set up a special economic zone for IT in Orissa’s capital.

Infosys director (human resources) T.V. Mohandas Pai, who attended a high-level meeting chaired by Naveen Patnaik, said today that he had requested the chief minister to allot 50 acres near its development centre here.

Infosys set up a development centre at Infocity, the IT hub developed by the state government on the outskirts of the city.

At present, around 300 IT professionals are working at the IT major’s Bhubaneswar centre, said Pai, adding that nearly 700 software engineers would be recruited for the centre this year. Infosys exported software worth Rs 642 crore during 2007-08 from Orissa, he said.

Sources said Pai told Naveen that Infosys had plans to invest Rs 500 crore in the IT enabled service (ITeS) sector which would create employment opportunities for 5,000 professionals in the state.

Pai led a team which discussed several issues with Naveen on how to increase employability of students from Orissa, improve healthcare facilities, ensure proper delivery of government services in rural areas and carry forward its free midday meal scheme.

Infosys had launched a campus contact programme in Orissa last year under which 700 general college students and 200 college teachers were imparted training for development of soft skills.

Devi Shetty, chairman and senior consultant cardiac surgeon with Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya, gave a presentation and proposed to set up a 1,000-bed heart care centre and a multi-speciality hospital in Bhubaneswar.

Manish Agrawal from TEAM Lease spoke on how to increase the employability skills of students. Later, Naveen requested him to be involved in the ongoing livelihood programmes.

Representatives from Akshay Patra Foundation, a charitable institution providing free midday meals to 40,000 poor students in Puri and Nayagarh districts, were also part of the team.

Naveen requested the foundation — it installed an automated kitchen system in Puri town — to extend the free midday meal programme to other districts too.

However, the foundation’s representatives expressed their inability to do so citing financial constraints.