Bongirwar was speaking at the inauguration of the Software Development Campus of Infosys Technologies Ltd at the Pune Infotech Park at Hinjewadi.He felt that the advent of Infosys in Pune would trigger off an encouraging response from other IT companies to set up base here. Big names in the software field such as Wipro, Mahindra British Telecom and Cognizant Technologies are expected to start functioning in the next six to eight months at Hinjewadi. ``We have a menu of choices at multiple locations,'' Bongirwar said. Around 30 lakh square feet of constructed area in different parts of the State was already available to interested IT companies.

Yeshwant Bhave, Industries Secretary said that the first batch of students for the post-graduate courses conducted by the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Kharadi would commence by July 2000.

Infosys Technologies Ltd, one of the largest software companies in India announced the inauguration of its software development centre at Hinjewadi. The company is planning to carry out `E-commerce' projects for Aetna US Healthcare from this campus. Infosys has already announced plans to E-invent its business and work as co-product developer with E-commerce companies.

Diane Wallace, chief information officer (CIO), Aetna US Healthcare, who was in Pune to open Infosys' new facility said that her company had benefitted through Infosys' expertise in supporting large legacy systems and re-engineering them to current technologies.

Aetna Inc is a leading player in the finance, health and related benefits organisation in the US. The company's healthcare division provides a range of products from insurance to health maintenance and has a customer base of 26 million in the US with business of US $ 22 billion.Aetna has already worked on a dozen pilot projects with Infosys involving a team of around 60 people which is expected to grow five fold by end of next year.

N R Narayana Murthy, chairman of Infosys, said that the Pune campus was completed in a record nine months. A total of Rs 165 crore will be invested by Infosys in this project. This centre is expected to generate a revenue of around US $ 75 million per year.

Phase I of the new Infosys campus has a built-up area of approximately two lakh square feet. Situated on 25 acres of land the first phase includes four software blocks that can accommodate 1200 professionals, a computer centre and dining areas. The next phase will include library training rooms, discussion areas, conference rooms and recreation facilities. When completed it will accommodate over 2400 professionals.