Independent India's Biggest Building in Infosys Mysore

Independent India’s biggest structure that surpasses Rashtrapati Bhavan in size and equals it in grandeur is coming up on the Infosys campus in Mysore. It will be unveiled in December 2008.

With a floor area of more than 9.6 lakh square feet, the new structure, designed by architect Hafiz Contractor, will house the second unit of the Global Education Centre (GEC) where all Infosys employees will undergo training before taking up their placements.

For comparison, the floor area of the Rashtrapati Bhavan is 2 lakh square feet as per the official website of the President. The GEC has been designed entirely on classical style of architecture with similarities to the Colosseum of Rome, while the pillars are reflective of the Parliament House. A large dome emerges from the centre of the structure and overlooks the entire campus and the structure reflects various ancient Greek and Roman architectural style all of which will cost around Rs. 350 crore.

“When completed, Infosys would have invested over Rs. 1,650 crore for education and training alone which is reckoned to be the largest investment ever on education at one place anywhere in India,” according to T.V. Mohandas Pai, director, HR, Education, Research and Administration, and member of the Infosys Board.

“We are lagging behind by one year as there were not enough skilled workers and trained labour to take up the construction of the complicated design,” said Mr. Mohandas Pai. He pointed out that they were keen to have the architectural styles of ancient Indian universities of Nalanda and Taxila too but none of them have survived.

“We have incorporated diverse architectural styles in the Mysore campus to reflect the diversity of India,” said Mr. Pai who described the new structure as the grandest and one of the biggest buildings constructed for the cream of Indian youth who will come here for study and training and make them feel proud. When fully completed the Mysore campus of Infosys will have many more “firsts” to its credit. They include the single largest residential unit anywhere in the world surpassing The Venetian at Macau as it will have more than 13,500 residential rooms, fully air-conditioned and Wi-Fi enabled and 13,500 students can be trained in one sitting. Four batches are trained for 16 weeks each and hence, nearly 50,000 students and professionals will be trained every year, according to Mr. Pai.

The “guided tour” of the new facility included a visit to one of what is arguably the country’s biggest automated laundry. This has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 6 crore, and is technology-intensive with 175 individual washing machines.

Also on the anvil is the world’s second largest synthetic tent structure which will function as a food court and will accommodate 2,000 people at a time for dining.

The Global Education Centre facility taking shape in Mysore is reckoned to be the largest of its kind in the world and the first phase was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February 2005. Spread over 335 acres of land, the structure occupies only about 30 per cent of the area.

The GEC imparts centralised residential foundation programme for Infosys employees, including generic and stream-specific training in various technology areas, apart from soft skills and leadership programmes to fresh engineering graduates who have joined Infosys.