West Bengal expects positive response from Infosys

The IT major had bought 50 acres of land in Rajarhat but it got stalled after Mamata Banerjee refused SEZ-like benefits

After putting in a desperate effort to woo Infosys for softening its stand over special economic zone (SEZ) status for its stalled West Bengal project, the Mamata Banerjee-government has expressed hope that the IT major will set up its first unit in the state.

There were concerns over the future of the project, which was anticipated to generate more than 20,000 jobs, after the state government’s decision on not to give special economic zone (SEZ) status to the project. “They have agreed to work together with the state government, as we want the IT project to be here. I do believe that they will respond to our request, though they have not given any time period,” said Partha Chatterjee, the state industries and commerce minister. The state is also looking to bestow SEZ-like facilities to the project.

Chatterjee had met Infosys’ executive co-chairman S Gopalakrishnan in Bangalore last week in order to discuss the future of the project. The IT major had already bought 50 acres of land in Rajarhat to set up its first facility in the state.

The future of the project came under clouds after Mamata Banerjee made it clear that the state will not be able to provide SEZ status to Infosys only, as the government is against SEZs.

However, Infosys was keen on the status as it will get many fiscal benefits from the Centre. Though the state offered an alternative software technology park (STP) status, it failed to find takers. Now, the state has reportedly assured Infosys to help it in getting SEZ-like sops from the Central government.