HYDERABAD: Infosys Technologies commenced work on its second campus at Pocharam village on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Saturday, 14 months after it signed a memorandum of understanding with AP government.

The facility, spread over 447 acres, is the company's largest campus anywhere in the world. It is expected to become operational in nine to 12 months.

The IT major will invest Rs 1,250 crore on the campus, to be developed in three phases, over the next 10 years. It will seat 25,000 people in phase 1. The company currently has over 11,000 employees in Hyderabad. "In part one of the first phase, we will build capacity to seat 10,000 software professionals over three years," said NR Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor of Infosys.

Talking to media after the bhoomi pooja (ground-breaking ceremony) for the new campus, he said among a host of other facilities would be a 1000-room residential facility for its employees under training or travelling.

Not just this campus, which comprises two special economic zones (SEZs), but all future expansion of the company will happen in SEZs, according to T V Mohandas Pai, Infosys' director.

Earlier in the day, while speaking at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Murthy told the students that it is the responsibility of the youngsters to see that the growth and recognition that India has been achieving in recent times becomes sustainable.