Tug of War

Politicians sniff impending elections well. And political
watchers feel there might be one in Karnataka soon. The immediate fodder for
thought is former prime minister and JD(S) powerhouse HD Deve Gowda's threat
perception: "several politicians who seem to have a stake in Infosys"
and other Congressmen persuading Sonia to end the party's association with
him.

So while worrying about his rural vote bank status (uncertain
because former deputy CM and party man Siddaramaiah has already parted ways) and
practicing a favorite pastime of SM Krishna-bashing, Deve Gowda has discovered a
more potent sickle for harvesting votes: Infosys-bashing.

A debate over the allotment of land to IT companies and an
altruist advice by one of its greats for decentralization of urban governance in
Karnataka, has now come to mean a brawl between the rich and the poor. It's
tempting to imagine how the next election line-up in the state would look like.
This will be former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader S M Krishna (a
known supporter of IT, the "rich") and IT companies
("agricultural land grabbers") vs Gowda (the humble farmer, the
guardian of the state's pastoral).

It is not clearly known if Gowda equates or imagines equating
Infy's mentor NR Narayana Murthy with the Congress. He perceives Murthy to be
close to Krishna, now the Maharashtra Governor — the JD(S) supremo said on
October 22 that Krishna was using Murthy as a pawn to destabilize the Dharam
Singh Government and called them "two sides of the same coin". He also
alleged that Krishna had extended undue favor to Infosys — Murthy, who is
retiring in 2006, however, says he will not be joining active politics. Some
reports had earlier stated Murthy agreeing to make a presentation about his
vision on governance to Gowda and Dharam Singh at Sonia Gandhi's behest.

While the IT industry was expectedly unanimous in calling Gowda
"illogical", a fallout was Murthy's resignation as chairman of the
Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), which came in the wake of
remarks questioning his contribution towards building India's first greenfield
airport. That was the first phase of attacks the former PM launched.

The immediate spur seemed to be Murthy's presentation on
October 15 where he outlined that importance should be given to urban
decentralization and providing a platform akin to gram sabha to the urbanities
to encourage their participation in governance.

In typical Indian political style, Gowda took digs at Murthy at
a press conference, rubbishing his vision, suggesting that he did not understand
rural governance. In his five-year term with BIAL, he did little in moving the
project forward, Gowda alleged.

In the same meet, he accused some IT firms of grabbing precious
agricultural land for real-estate: "They have not fully utilized the land
as per the area master plan or built any building, except for putting a compound
wall only to preserve it for subsequent real estate purpose."

On the firing line was definitely Infosys. Gowda revealed that
he had written to the CM about Infy's ways and means: "It has come to my
notice that Infosys has sought allotment of 845 acres in Ittangooru, V
Kallahalli, Yamare, Sarjapura, Sompura, Dodda Thimmasandra, Chambanahalli and
Billapura villages of Sarjapur hobli. I would like to caution you in this matter
as it will not only attract public criticism, but also bring discredit to the
coalition government." He also questioned employment generated against the
extent of land already allotted.

Infosys came out with a clarification soon about their Karnataka
investments (Rs 1,744 crore) and the jobs they created in the state (22,000).
All its campuses, it said, were built within KIADB norms. As far as the 845
acres of land sought was concerned, Infy stated that applications have been
approved on three different occasions and that no special concessions were
sought from the government.

The state Cabinet has, however, constituted a sub-committee now
to probe land allotted to IT firms, attesting the clout Gowda holds in the
coalition government.

Murthy's resignation got industry backing, but the Centre's
response was lukewarm: Finance minister P Chidambaram expressed
"unhappiness" over the controversy, and both he and Dharam Singh, who
was typically late in reacting, just wanted to request Murthy to withdraw
resignation. A lot of other ministers refused to join issue.

The JD(S) strong man, meanwhile, hasn't clamed down either.
The artillery smoke from the fight loomed large over Karnataka's IT show,
BangaloreIT.in. At the inaugural function of Karnataka's IT show,
BangaloreIT.in, attended by many foreign delegates, Gowda wanted the CM to put
conditions before allotting land to industries and sought a mechanism to be put
in place to ensure that job opportunities were given to the displaced.

Goutam Das

Point and Counter Point

HD Deve Gowda

Gowda's charge "Some of the IT companies including
Infosys Technologies have already taken substantial land in the name of IT
development in different cities of our state. What exactly is the employment
generated against the extent of land allotted...is a matter to be examined
carefully... Infosys has acquired land measuring 78 acres in Bangalore, 350
acres in Mysore..."

Infy response:

• Total investment in Karnataka amounts to Rs. 1,744 crore

• Out of the total of 46,000 employees, 22,000 jobs have been
  created in Karnataka alone

• Infosys software exports from Karnataka amount to 14% of the
  total IT exports of the state

• Infosys has generated employment for over 2,500 workers
  (housekeeping, landscaping, etc.) from around the campuses in Karnataka and
  many more jobs have been created through support industries

• Infosys' Bangalore campus is the largest software export
  unit from any single location in India

• In Mysore, Infosys has been allotted 315.60 acres of land.
  In the first phase, Infosys has built a world-class Global Education Center
  and Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI) covering an area of 218 acres. The
  education center, one of the largest in the world, is a fully residential
  complex and trains technology professionals. It has the capacity to train
  4,500 people at any time. ILI grooms future leaders of Infosys

• Infosys has dedicated 8 acres from the total allotment for a
  green belt

• Development work on 40 acres of land will start shortly

• Infosys has proposed a SEZ in 50 acres, which will be
  developed in the third phase

Gowda's charge "Infosys has recently applied for about
845 acres land in Ittangooru, V. Kallahali, Yamare, Sarjapura, etc."

NR Narayana Murthy

Infy response:

• Infosys had made an application to a high-level Government
  committee for land in the year 2000. No land was granted to us. We have made
  subsequent applications which have been approved on three different
  occasions

• Infosys has requested KIADB to acquire the land after
  securing zoning requirements from the Government and complying with the law.
  The land is being acquired on a consent basis and after paying the market
  price to the land owners. No special concession have been sought from the
  Government

• The land has been sought as two different plots. On one plot
  of land, a Software Development Center will be set up, which will generate
  employment for 25,000 people

• The second plot of land is being sought, a short distance
  away, to provide residential facilities for our employees and to set up
  essential amenities like a school and a hospital.

• Both the plots will be fully utilized for the purpose of the
  company as per the Government requirements, with a proposed investment of Rs.
  1,500 crore, in the first phase

• All these proposals have been vetted by various departments
  of the Government of Karnataka and have been reviewed and approved by
  high-level committees headed by various Chief Ministers of Karnataka

Gowda's charge "Wipro, Intel, Accenture, IBM, HP,
Honewell etc. have not been given any land, but are functioning mostly in rented
buildings..."

Infy response:

• In Electronics City alone, two of the companies listed have
  large campuses

• Another company has a large campus on the Outer Ring Road

• Rented premises, built by real estate developers, also
  require land and work space. Surely, our leaders do not recommend that we go
  to real estate developers only and not build campuses ourselves