West Bengal plans 1,600 acre township

The West Bengal information technology (IT) department has acquired 1,600 acres in Kolkata, close to Vedic Village, to build an IT township.

At a seminar organised by CII in Kolkata, Debesh Das, state IT minister, said, “We have acquired 1,600 acres close to Vedic Village, of which 600 acres will be commercial space for IT companies. Currently the mutation and conversion process is going on for close to 200 acres. It would take around three years for the township to be completed.”

According to Das, Akash Nirman is the private party involved in the project.

“By December this year, we can give land to any IT company, be it Wipro, Infosys, ICICI or ITC Infotech,” Das claimed.

Currently Wipro Technologies has a 6,500-people facility in Kolkata and has sought 90 acres from the state government. Infosys Technologies, too, has sought 90 acres to set up a facility in Kolkata.

S Gopalakrishnan, CEO and MD, Infosys, who was also present at the seminar, said, “We are still committed to the West Bengal project. However, currently we have put on hold all infrastructure projects and we will relook at all investments once the demand picks up.” Infosys expects first signs of recovery from 2010.

Suresh Senapaty, executive director and CFO of Wipro, said, “Our existing facility at Salt Lake Sector V is saturated and therefore we are looking at additional infrastructure. We are in discussions with the West Bengal government and are looking forward to the expansion in the state.”

According to a CII survey report released at the seminar today, the state government should provide more support to the existing organisations in terms of administration, social and physical infrastructure so that they can get distinctive cost advantages over other states and can expand their businesses in West Bengal.