Government helped Infosys at its critical hour: NR Narayana Murthy

BENGALURU: Infosys cofounder NR Narayana Murthy won the heart of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and other ministers and bureaucrats on Wednesday when he gratefully acknowledged the contribution of the Karnataka Government behind Infosys's stellar success in the IT sector.

Murthy, who began his speech in Kannada at Invest Karnataka, the global investor meet, said the software behemoth, during its infancy in the 1980s approached Citibank, Bank of America and a few other banks seeking a loan of Rs 50 lakh, but none of them responded.

Finally, it was Karnataka State Finance Corporation and Karnataka State Industrial Investment & Development Corporation that provided the much needed loan, Murthy said.

He mentioned the names of four officers of the government who worked at these institutions at that time who sanctioned the loan in a week's time without any expectation in return, even a cup of coffee.

“I must express my deep sense of grati tude to the Government of Karnataka for helping Infosys to become what it is today,“ Murthy said.