By Sanu George. Kerala, India, 02:31 PM IST

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has agreed to ferry on a daily basis the 2,000 professionals employed at the campus here of information technology (IT) major Infosys.

KSRTC's managing director T.P. Senkumar told IANS that talks with Infosys on this arrangement have almost concluded and KSRTC has agreed to operate its buses to carry Infosys employees on a daily basis.

'Initially we will operate five buses in the morning and evening and it would begin this month itself,' said Senkumar, who is also a senior IPS official.

As and when this tie up becomes operational, it would be the first time that KSRTC would enter into an agreement on a long term basis to carry people exclusively for a company.

Speaking to IANS, a top Infosys official said that this is just an extension of the arrangement that they have with the Karnataka Transport Corporation.

'In Bangalore, we operate close to 450 schedules everyday and here this is just the preliminary workout with the KSRTC,' said the Infosys official who did not wish to be identified.

The information technology park here, the Technopark, today has more than 140 IT firms that employ close to 18,000 people.

But unlike in Bangalore, close to 50 per cent of the employees arrive on their own vehicles here.

'Maybe other companies will follow the footsteps of Infosys and enter into tie-ups with the KSRTC. This arrangement would be mutually beneficial for both parties and would help in reducing pollution if more and more IT professionals use public transport,' an IT professional said.

By Sanu George (Staff Writer, © IANS)