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On March 29, Kolkata woke to a social media post from Infosys: Kolkata here we come! Infosys now in your very own city. Looking forward to welcoming you to our office soon. Stay tuned for latest updates and job openings. #InfyKolkata #ForwardWithInfosys
“Interested”, “any openings”, “how to apply” — the company post on Facebook spurred a flurry of excitement among netizens — an indication that it was much awaited.
Infosys did not respond when <Business Standard> reached out for details of its Kolkata plans. But the company has kick-started operations in the city out of Mani Casadona, one of the largest office spaces at Rajarhat, as its under-construction 50-acre campus gets completed.
Mani Casadona is a busy place these days and Infosys is not the only reason. “Between January and the first week of April, we have leased about 90,000 square feet of space — Infosys has taken up 40,000 sq ft (square feet) and ITC Infotech, 20,000 sq ft. Given the current traction, we expect more deals in the current quarter,” Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, chief executive officer of the Mani Group, said.
For ITC Infotech, it’s a temporary address before it checks into its 17-acre mixed use development project, ITC Green Centre, at New Town Rajarhat. The first phase of the project would be ready by December 2024, Sudip Singh, managing director and chief executive officer, ITC Infotech, said.
“The Kolkata centre will house over 2,500 employees in the first phase by 2026, delivering services around application development and maintenance, MES (manufacturing execution systems), digital and testing,” Singh said, adding that the rich local talent base, both campus and experienced, in Kolkata and surrounding areas would drive growth for this centre.
The company already has a significant number of employees based out of Kolkata serving clients globally as well as the parent, ITC. Its other key delivery centres in India are Bengaluru and Pune.
Companies having a presence are looking to expand and then there are first timers to the city — all of which has created a buzz around Sector V, Salt Lake and Rajarhat, the tech hubs in Kolkata (Wipro would also set up a second campus spread across 50 acres).
West Bengal already has a significant IT base largely centred on Kolkata. “The total number of IT professionals in West Bengal is 250,000 to 300,000 across 900-1,000 companies. Of this, TCS employs around 50,000, Cognizant 22,000 and Wipro 12,000,” Amit Mitra, principal chief advisor to the West Bengal chief minister, said.
TCS has taken 20 acres at the Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub and will add another 15,000 people there, Mitra added. “Once it does, TCS would have over 65,000 people in Kolkata, making it larger than Bengaluru in terms of headcount.”
Spread across 250 acres, the Bengal Silicon Valley Hub is a showpiece project of the government. Around 39 entities have been allotted land including the likes of Reliance, TCS, Adani, Nxtra (Bharti Airtel subsidiary), NTT, Larsen & Toubro Infotech (now LTIMindtree); eight are understood to be “under process”.
“We believe that the Silicon Valley Hub has the potential to create around 50,000 jobs. In the next two years, many companies will be starting operations,” West Bengal IT and Electronics Minister Babul Supriyo said.
The Covid-19 pandemic delayed some of the projects, but the minister said a special task force had been set up to liaison between different government departments so that the procedures get expedited.
The pandemic was a double-edged sword for Bengal — it upset the progress of existing projects but a distributive work model led companies to set up satellite offices paving the entry of newcomers.
“It is widely known that 25-30 per cent of the IT professionals working in different parts of the country are from Kolkata or eastern India. When they returned home during Covid, many companies decided to set up a base. So we have had new entrants since 2021,” Abhijit Das, senior director (East) of Knight Frank, said.
This reflected on the demand for office space. “Office space consumption in 2022 was at 1.2 to 1.3 million sq ft, up by 0.6 million sq ft from 2021. It’s the best since Lehman Brothers and Singur hit Bengal,” Das added.
The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and the global financial crisis had led to a prolonged global downturn. In West Bengal, the agitation against the Tata Motors project in Singur and its pull-out the same year dealt the state’s image a blow. But the entry of big firms in the IT and ITeS space promising white-collar jobs shows that Bengal has moved on.
It augurs well for the state’s economy. As Abhirup Sarkar, former professor of economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, pointed out, West Bengal’s comparative advantage lies in its skilled labour.
“The lack of adequate opportunities is pushing skilled labour to other states and even outside the country. If it can be absorbed here, then not only will it translate into direct benefit, but will also have a multiplier effect with increased spending,” Sarkar said.
It’s up to the government to make it happen.
‘Rich human capital drawing companies’
Amit Mitra, principal chief advisor to the West Bengal chief minister, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt that the growth of the IT sector fulfils the government agenda of creating more jobs. Edited excerpts:
What are the policy enablers that helped the government attract companies?
In 2021, we came out with a Data Centre Policy, which offers a mix of financial and non-financial incentives. This has created a buzz — the Hiranandanis have officially conveyed that they would like to do a large data centre. Of course, Reliance Corporate IT Park Ltd had taken 40 acres in the Bengal Silicon Valley Hub even before the policy was announced.
A unique step by the government is a joint venture between Fujisoft of Japan and a state government corporation for 3D printing. This will hugely help the MSME sector in design and manufacturing.
Bengal is rich in human capital, which is also drawing companies. It has a large talent pool but the attrition rate is low, which is a major assurance for companies to invest in human capital.
Plus, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s no-bandh culture is a relief for IT companies.
Are there any takers for the IT centres set up by the government in tier-II and III cities?
We have set up 22 IT centres in tier-II and III cities and the response to this model has been significant. These are 50,000 square feet buildings with an average occupancy of 84 per cent. About 7,100 people work out of these centres across 402 companies. Apart from being standalone IT units, the model is acting as a feeder to the IT sector in Kolkata.
In the next 3-4 years, the headcount in the IT and ITeS sector is expected to go up substantially once the new campuses are ready. What would it mean for the economy of West Bengal?
Growth of the IT sector would create backward and forward linkages with the manufacturing sector including the vast number of MSMEs creating more jobs and higher GDP.
