Infosys spends Rs46 cr on parking in Pune

Ever heard of a company spending Rs46 crore to build a parking lot for its employees? Well, try Infy. It’s one of the few firms in India to try and do that.

But then, not all companies put parking as a critical determinant of employee satisfaction. And, not all civic woes are as serious as Pune’s.

Having decided to establish its largest manpower base in the city, Infosys is constructing Pune’s biggest multi-level parking lot at its phase-II campus in Hinjewadi.

When ready, the nine-storey parking tower will hold approximately 1,500 cars. The main frame of the parking tower is in steel and the upper floors are in concrete, according to an Infosys spokesperson.

So, what explains the company’s huge spend? Says Priti Rao, company vice-president and head of the Pune Development Centre: “Our employees are exposed to international environments and are used to such facilities. We felt we should also have similar facilities.”

Even as it sets its sights on a car park, Infosys is constructing a separate bus park which will have bays to park as many as 100 buses.

While these eye-popping numbers do make for an interesting talking-point, they also constitute a sad commentary on Pune’s biggest concern — the absence of an effective mass transportation system. With the city expanding ferociously, over a lakh new vehicles are added to Pune’s traffic every year.

If anything, Infosys’ parking project is a corporate solution to a messy civic problem. And there are signs that more such human resources initiatives will follow.

Infosys is not only building parking lots. Faced with a huge shortage of hotel rooms, it has become the country’s largest hospitality company, with 15,000 rooms spread across campuses in several cities, including Pune.

Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Bhubaneswar are the others. That’s more than the Taj and ITC Hotels chains put together.

News Source : Samachar