Infosys starts Rs 10 cr training program

BANGALORE: In order to align and update engineering curriculum to the industry standard, Infosys has launched an industry-academia collaborative program called "Campus Connect." Announcing this, Infosys VP and head for education and research, MP Ravindra informed that the company would be making an initial investment of Rs 10 crore into this initiative.

He added that the program aimed to update the syllabi, make it industry-oriented but will not replace the existing system. The company will tie up with engineering institutions such as the Benaras Hindu University, MIT Manipal, Motilal NIT Allahabad, Osmania University, PES College and many others in India. As part of the program, around 39 faculty members from 19 universities from Pune and Mysore will be trained over a two-week period.

According to Ravindra, factors such as the growing demand for good engineering talent and heavy competition from other countries made it necessary for such a program.

Infosys will also set up a "Campus Connect" portal that would carry educational content such as best practices, case studies, project banks, online tests, dummy project material and latest technology information.

Infosys chairman NR Narayana Murthy said, "Countries like China, Brazil and Mexico are trying to compete with India in IT. So it is important for India to maintain its lead and also enhance the IT edge. China is catching up rapidly since a lot of effort is going into English learning." However, he felt that China lagged three years behind India in IT.

The company spends around Rs two lakh in training each person who joins the company. With the Campus Connect program, it hopes to reduce this cost by around 40 percent to 50 percent. Murthy said that after completing the program, students could choose to join any company and not just Infosys.