Syntel to hire 1,500 in Chennai

Outlining its plans Syntel (India) on Tuesday said that it had acquired land in the IT corridor of Chennai and would be setting up a big facility in the next one-year. The company plans to invest $20 million and hire 1,500 people during this year.

Syntel India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Syntel Inc, a US-based global applications and BPO enterprise, has acquired 27.52 acres land on the Old Mahaballipuram Road, IT corridor of Chennai, for a cost of about $1.5 million.

"We will be making significant investments in Chennai. We will soon be finalising our investments and the size of the facility. We may invest about $20 million in Chennai alone and build a four lakh sq ft facility in the new campus," Keshav R Murugesh, chief operating officer, Syntel India, said.

In the last six months, we have invested about $12 million in India under our capex programme and during this year we plan to spend about $20 million, excluding Chennai.

Syntel recently moved into a 43,000 sq ft facility with a seating capacity of 450 in Chennai. "We may be building a 30,000-40,000 sq ft building in Chennai before setting up the new campus in the IT corridor," he added.

The company is planning to hire about 1,500 people during this year to increase the total strength in India to 5,300 from the present 3,800.

Syntel is currently building a four-lakh sq ft facility in Pune, which is expected to be largest IT centre in the city.