West Bengal eyes 50% growth in IT exports

The West Bengal government is aiming at a 50 per cent growth in exports from the IT sector this fiscal. During 2006-07, the state's IT exports grew 46 per cent to touch Rs 3,600 crore.

Said Debesh Das, minister for information technology, West Bengal, "We have set an ambitious target of contributing 15 per cent to India's IT/ITeS exports by 2010. The increasing demand for land for building IT infrastructure is being addressed by the state and new areas are being identified to develop IT hubs."

Talking to reporters after the inauguration of BangaloreIT.in 2007, he said the state is adding 20 million sft of real estate to house IT companies by 2010, a four-fold growth on the present space. "Our aim is to develop West Bengal as the hub for IT industry in the eastern part of the country," he said.

The government is considering allotting additional land to Infosys, Wipro and TCS for their expansion in the state. Infosys has sought 100 acres and TCS has sought 40 acres for their expansion in the state, Das said.

Other companies like HTMT, ITC Infotech and Tech Mahindra are also expanding their development centres in the state, he added.

The recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers has projected Kalyani, Durgapur, Siliguri, Kharagpur and Haldia as the preferred destinations for future IT hubs in view of their inherent advantages like physical connectivity, land availability and cost, urban infrastructure.

The state government is also developing a semiconductor park over 150 acres near IIT Kharagpur on a public-private partnership, he said.