TCS Bengal campus to create 16,500 jobs

Tata Consultancy Services said on its Rs 1,350 crore (Rs 13.5 billion) software development campus in West Bengal will be functional by the end of 2014-15 and will employ 16,500 IT and BPO professionals.

The campus is spread over 40 acres of land near in Rajarhat, near Kolkata.

"Our growing presence in Kolkata continues to be of strategic importance for our overall business growth.

"We remain committed to working in close collaboration with all stakeholders in the state to help development of local talent and provide our customers with world-class IT solutions from this location," TCS chief financial officer & executive director S Mahalingam said.

The first phase of construction will be completed in the first quarter of 2014, while the second phase by the fourth quarter of the year.

"In the first phase 7,000 seats will be ready with the remaining 9,500 seats being completed in second phase," Tata Consultancy Services said.

Once completed, the campus that is being constructed with an investment of about Rs 1,350 crore (Rs 13.5 billion) will house over 16,500 seats, it added.

"This facility will drive the next phase of our growth in the eastern region and help us access skilled professionals and students from in and around Kolkata," TCS executive vice president and global head (human resources)

Ajoy Mukherjee said.

The campus will have facilities like amphitheatre, auditorium, cafeterias, libraries, tennis and basketball courts, gymnasium and temporary accommodation for employees.

TCS has used sustainable, local materials for construction and has deployed green technologies across the campus and aims "to get the highest LEED certification to demonstrate its effectiveness in considerably reduce the environmental footprint of the campus".

In a separate statement, the company said it has devised a scheme to boost pool of skilled workers in construction and related industries like metalwork across the country.

The programme to upgrade skills will be carried out during the construction phase while building new TCS campuses in places like Kolkata, Indore and Nagpur.

A pilot programme for has already commenced at Rajarhat, it said.

Over the course of the construction period, as many as 2,000 workers will be trained at the purpose-built on-site Construction Skill Training Center.

"Through this process, we expect upto 50 per cent of the workers used in building the TCS campus to be sourced from workers trained at our skills training centre," Mahalingam said.