Bangalore: L&T Infotech Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of engineering major Larson and Toubro Ltd, today (Aug 19, 2004) said it would hire 1,800 people in the next 18 months to reach a total strength of 5,000 professionals.

Speaking to reporters after laying the foundation stone for a new software park in Bangalore, L&T Chairman and Managing Director A M Naik said, "we have an employee strength of 3,200 and in 18 months, we will touch 5,000 people".

He said the Bangalore centre, to be constructed in three phases for accommodating 3,000 professionals, would have a total investment of Rs 150 crore, including Rs 55 crore in the first phase to be ready in 15 months.

Naik said L&T Infotech, which reported revenues of Rs 380 crore in 2003-04, would clock a revenue of Rs 650 crore to Rs 700 crore this fiscal.

He said the firm was focusing on increasing expertise in the manufacturing and engineering domain and also was planning new software facilities in Chennai and Mumbai.

Naik said L&T, which is aiming at revenue growth of 20 per cent this fiscal, would invest Rs 500 crore on capital expenditure in manufacturing, engineering and IT.

95 per cent of the IT business, he said, was for the export market, with the rest being domestic and in house business.

Not ruling out any acquisition by the firm, Naik said, " That does not mean we will not acquire, it will be domain specific and areas like manufacturing, ERP and financial services".