BANGALORE: Infosys executive chairman NR Narayana Murthy would like a small airport near electronics city, the biggest hub of Bangalore’s IT industry and host to the main Infosys campus.

Putting forward a wish list before the Karnataka government, Murthy said: “We are not asking for anything extraordinary. We are asking for reasonably good roads, electricity, water, clean air and some English schools. We need reasonable connectivity to the airport . Ideally, we would like a small airport near electronics city.”

The international airport’s location in north Bangalore has been a concern for the IT industry, located mostly in a stretch extending from the south to the east. Electronics City is to the south east, and the shortest distance to the airport, cutting through the congested city centre, is about 55 km.

Though the government has been working on a project to have a signal-free corridor from Electronics City to the airport, there are still points of extreme congestion where solutions are yet to emerge. The IT industry, with its dependence on global markets, is one of the main users of the airport.

Speaking at the 36th AGM of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry & Commerce on Friday, Murthy emphasized the contribution of the software industry to the state’s economy. Murthy noted that the IT industry’s average salary of Rs 50,000 per month is 8-9 times higher than Karnataka’s per capita GDP of Rs 6,000. The state last year generated software exports of Rs 1.35 lakh crore, and the industry formed slightly more than 25% of the GDP of the state.

We need more from govt, says Murthy

An industry that contributes about 55% of the state gross domestic product , has created half a million jobs with an average monthly salary of Rs 50,000 and 1.5 million jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy , and earns net foreign exchange of Rs 55,000 crore a year…, requires better encouragement from the government,” Narayana Murthy said.

“The automobile or heavy engineering industry takes about 100 or even 1,000 acres of land and employs about 10,000 people and gives an average salary of Rs 25,000 per person. The IT industry takes the same land and gives jobs to 50,000 people, and the average salary is about Rs 50,000 per month. My industry requires about Rs 6 lakh investment and produces an output of Rs 30 lakh. The capital-to-output ratio is 5, the highest,” he added. So far, Infosys has created 40,000 jobs in the state and paid Rs 3,377 crore as taxes last year, he noted.

New tourism policy

Higher education and tourism minister R V Deshpande said the Karnataka government would bring out a new tourism policy. “There is a large potential for creating employment and attracting investment. We need to take along with us all the stakeholders. Our thrust will be on creating infrastructure . We are trying to resolve the problems of the industry.” The issue of Bidar airport will be resolved at the earliest, Deshpande said.

