President & Chief Operating Officer of Mindtree, NS Parthasarathy spoke with Debasish Acharya of Orissa POST on plans of the IT firm in the state. The company, which Monday held groundbreaking ceremony to build a new block in its Kalinga Campus in the city, is planning to come up with a software development centre in next two years.
How important is Kalinga Campus to Mindtree?
Ans- Bhubaneswar is the fifth centre of the company apart from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai. The reason for which, we took 20 acres of land in the city is not only to use this facility as the global learning centre but also to develop it as a software development unit in coming times. We went live on March last year and currently have 400 Mindtree minds who are working out of this facility on software development for our international clients. In last one year, we have trained 1,100 new college graduates in the global learning centre. As we look back, we are satisfied with our growth curve in Kalinga Campus.
Could you please throw some light on company’s expansion plan?
Ans- We have 20 acres of land in Kalinga campus, in which we will have a dedicated software block in next two years. Going ahead, headcount in the software development wing will rise to 650 from 400 in next one year. Around 1,800 new college graduates will also be trained in the global learning centre. As of now, we have a capacity to train 500 trainees every quarter.
Do you have any plans to add new business verticals which will be served from this facility?
Ans- We will concentrate on serving banking and insurance verticals from this campus. For the next one year, we don’t see any change in this approach.
How have you fared in the prevailing environment? What expectations do you have for this financial year?
Ans- We have done very well during FY15 and our results are going to be announced on April 18 for FY16. We are hopeful to grow faster than the NASSCOM projected rates of 10-11 percent
What’s your outlook on IT exports from the state?
Ans- As far as IT exports is concerned, our focus is purely on exports. It’s also good sign that IT exports from the state is growing.
What challenges you face in the state?
Ans- Challenges relating to connectivity with the city are still there. However, things have improved with greater connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore. As issues relating to international connectivity are yet to be sorted out, getting an international customer is becoming tough. But, overall the state government is very supportive.
Are you looking at participating in the Smart City project?
Ans- If opportunity comes up through which we can add value to the Smart City project, we will surely take part. But, as of now, we have not received any such proposal.
Will you consider setting up a R&D centre in the Kalinga Campus?
Ans- We don’t have any such plans until we build a critical size of 1,000 to 1,200 resources in this centre. We are mulling to set up a R&D centre for Internet of Things (IoT), which will come up in next two years. However, we have not zeroed on a city yet.
