Technology is the finest instrument to reduce poverty in India : Narayana Murthy

Infosys on Saturday became the first technology giant to set up shop at the SAS Nagar, Mohali. In the first phase, Infosys will invest Rs. 425 crore to create a built-up area of 6.5-lakh square feet within 24 months. Deputy chief minister (CM) Sukhbir Singh Badal laid the foundation of Infosys' 50-acre campus in the presence of its founder and executive chairman, NR Narayana Murthy.

Technology can only make the adage, "Ab Dilli Door Nahin," come true and empower the underprivileged as it reduces cost and improves response time, said Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy after the foundation stone laying ceremony on Saturday.

"Job creation with good disposable income in the only antidote that can ensure that you can live comfortably, take care of aging parents and save some money for the future. This can be done by reducing friction to business by the government, which should collect taxes and use these for making the lives of citizen's better," he said.

He also emphasised upon the need for countries like India to use technology in an intelligent way to reduce poverty and promote transparency in government as well as corporates.

"Technology is the finest instrument that God has given us to reduce poverty in countries like India...one country that has to embrace technology in a very intelligent way," he said.

"We must embrace technology in a very passionate way so that governments become accessible to the poorest of poor, companies can create more and more jobs leveraging the power of technology and make lives of poor people better by helping them," he added. 

Promising to make Mohali campus, the most modern of the companies' campuses, Murthy said the company had experience of creating 31 million square feet of development space.