Wipro proposals to revive Rajarhat SEZ in Bengal

If Wipro's recommendations are accepted, it would come up with a third facility at Rajarhat

Information technology major Wipro wishes to take forward a plan to revive a special economic zone (SEZ) project in West Bengal.

It has approached the state government’s new minster for information technology, Bratya Basu. If Wipro’s recommendations are accepted, it could mean the software giant would come up with a third facility at Rajarhat, near this metropolis.

“We have approached the minister with proposals on a tax holiday, incentives and other benefits,” a company official said. He did not give details.

After the present government was recently re-elected, there has been a change in its outlook on granting SEZ status to IT companies, said the official.

In 2008, during the Left Front government’s final term in power, the IT behemoth had purchased 50 acres at Rajarhat for Rs 75 crore, with the assurance of being given SEZ status. However, with Mamata Banerjee sweeping the 2011 elections with a ‘no-SEZ policy’ as an agenda item, this project and Infosys’ maiden entry was stalled.

All these years, Wipro has stuck to its demand for SEZ status which the government had declined. However, the company started construction of a second unit on the spare land available with the first campus, in Sector V at Salt Lake which had been granted SEZ status long before.

Asked about the government’s stance, Basu, the new IT minister, said: “SEZ is not limited to IT but includes other sectors as well. In the IT department, we are holding discussions to improve the IT scenario.”