Date:14/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/10/14/stories/2004101402971700.htm

Business

HSBC training centre in HITEC City

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 13. The HSBC group, one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations, is taking a 4 lakh sq. ft. facility in HITEC City to house its back office and training centre. The space will be taken on a nine-year lease from L&T Infocity, which is implementing the HITEC City project in Madhapur here.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the third phase of HITEC City project here on Wednesday, A. Ramakrishna, Deputy Managing Director of L&T, and Director of L&T Infocity Limited (LTIL), said they would complete the project in 15 months, at a projected outlay of Rs. 200 crores.

The `build to suit' facility would be in a seven acre site, adjacent to the third phase, but within the 151 acre area that constitutes the HITEC City, which is being implemented by L&T Infocity. The latter is itself a joint venture of L&T and the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).

HSBC has a long standing relationship with L&T which has implemented several of its projects. Earlier, HSBC had asked L&T to implement an information technology infrastructure project in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which it was intended exclusively for setting up back office operations.

It is already a tenant in Cyber towers (part of HITEC City) where it has taken 40,000 sq. ft. space on lease. In the Vizag Information Technology Park also, HSBC has taken 1.83 lakh sq. ft. space on lease from L&T.

The project was implemented by L&T through a joint venture involving Vizag Urban Development Authority, among others.