Bengal expects preliminary nod soon for first electronic hub

The West Bengal government is optimistic about receiving a preliminary approval soon for the first electronic cluster, a precursor to set the ball rolling for manufacturing units for the hi-tech industry in the state.
"We hope to get preliminary approval for the Naihati electronic cluster in the North 24 Parganas district.
"Once that comes, we will move to the next level of implementation which will include anchor investors to get the final approval," West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation DGM Dev Baul said today on the sidelines of a seminar on IT organised by the CII here.
In West Bengal, two electronic clusters have been proposed by the state government and the Centre had proposed 10 electronics manufacturing clusters across country. The Centre had also set an investment target of USD 5 billion for the electronics sector.

The Naihati cluster would come up on 70 acres, while another proposed cluster at Falta would come up on 56 acres.
State IT additional secretary Satish Chandra Tewary said the state government had approached the Centre to also consider Falta for the modified incentive package scheme.

In the modified specialised incentive package scheme from the Centre, six locations of Bengal - Howrah, Kharagpur, Haldia, Siliguri, Durgapur and Kolkata - were chosen.
Though electronic clusters engage in nine sectors and 30 products in the electronic and solar power, in West Bengal the clusters could focus on Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) as they are low capital incentive ones and job opportunity was more.

Sources indicated that if things move smoothly, the Naihati cluster could be ready with infrastructure at an estimated cost of around Rs 70 crore.
Earlier in 2011, the state government had appointed a high-power committee on IT under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda to chart out new initiatives for growth of information technology and electronic industry in West Bengal.