Infosys to beat Big Ben, to build tallest clock tower

Indian IT giant Infosys has said it plans to build the world's tallest free-standing clock tower on its campus in the southern city of Mysore, BBC reported. When it is ready next year the Gothic-style tower will stand 135m (443 feet) tall, the firm says, dwarfing other clock towers around the world. Currently the tallest free-standing clock tower is thought to be the 100m-high Old Joe in Birmingham in the UK. Big Ben in London is just 96m in height (and is not free-standing anyway). It is not clear if the Infosys clock will chime on the hour, as Big Ben does. Infosys, which employs tens of thousands of people around the globe, says it aspires to be the biggest and best in the world. "Clock towers symbolise perfection, discipline and the way we do our work," the company's Executive Vice-President Ramadas Kamath told the BBC Tamil Service. The firm claims its corporate training campus in Mysore is the largest such facility on the planet. When built, the new clock tower will have 19 stories which will include meeting rooms, a visitor lounge, dining facilities and viewing galleries. It will be digital, unlike its clockwork rivals.