Faizal E Kottikollon: The man who will build Infosys' clock tower

BENGALURU: Faizal E Kottikollon, 51, is not a name one would instantly associate with infrastructure. But he is the one Infosys has reached out to for building the world's tallest freestanding clock tower at Mysuru.

The Dubai-based industrialist's two-year old startup -KEF Infra -is based out of Bengaluru, and runs a factory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu.

“We came to know about this modern precast factory, visited it, and did a detailed due diligence. It was only later did we approach Faizal,“ said Ramadas Kamath, executive vice-president (Infrastructure) at Infosys. The fact that the structural design expert Spyros Tsoukantas, who helped Infosys build a modern car parking facility at its Pune campus, now works for KEF helped close the deal.

Born into an industrialist family in Kozhikode, Kerala, Faizal studied engineering and MBA at Manipal. He set up a business in scrap metal trading in Ajman, UAE, in 1995, and later Emirates Techno Casting. Tyco fully bought out his valve firm for $400 million four years ago.

“I started KEF Infra in April 2014. We have 10 factories under one roof at Krishnagiri where we manufacture different elements needed for a building, and assemble them at the const ruction site,“ Faizal said. “We use a lot of robotics, automation, CAD and CAM software to reduce time and building costs,“ he added.

Infosys associate vice-president KP Nagaraj said he found Faizal's factory in Krishnagiri to be a construction health resort. “It is almost like a spa.“