Later this year, Aloha Tower will celebrate its 90th anniversary. For decades, it was the tallest structure in Hawai‘i. But right now in southern India, plans are in development to build the tallest clock tower in the world. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.
Here’s an old technology idea coming from a new technology company…building a bigger clock tower. Infosys is India’s sixth-largest company—its market capitalization bigger than Delta Airlines or General Mills. It’s a technology outsourcing and consulting company…based in Bangalore, in southern India.
The company has a vast training campus in the city of Mysore….where it can host more than 20-thousand people at a time. The company’s co-founder and first CEO Narayana Murthy thinks a clock tower would top things off nicely…a digital clock tower.
Plans are to make it 443 feet tall—that’s nearly two and a half times the height of Aloha Tower. It’s about a third taller than London’s Big Ben. Infosys officials say it will be the largest free-standing clock tower in the world. India’s Economic Times quotes former CEO Murthy as saying “a clock tower brings a sense of academic breathing to the campus.”
An Infosys spokesperson told the Hindustan Times the tower will combine “tradition and modern technology. With large digital screens on all four sides, it will also be used to display messages on important occasions.” The company estimates the cost to build the tower will be about 10-million dollars.
