West Bengal pushes IT SEZs
The West Bengal government is planning to set up two new IT-specific special economic zones (SEZ) in the state to accomodate IT biggies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS who have lined up for land to either set up shop or expand existing operations.
State IT secretary Mr.Siddhartha said that the two SEZs would be owned by the state and be located at Rajarhat and Kalyani. They would be spread over an area of 323 acres and 200 acres respectively. He said that the move was aimed at keeping the state’s contribution in IT exports intact after the expiry of the software technology parks of India (STPI) scheme in 2009.
West Bengal government is yet to apply to the Centre for a formal approval for two proposals. The West Bengal government is also eyeing investments from foreign IT companies in the SEZs and has plans of sending and official delegation to some countries including Taiwan and Singapore for this purpose.
According to the secretary, there is increasing interest from IT companies towards setting up and expanding operations in West Bengal mainly because of the low operating cost including cheaper land availability in Kolkata compared to other metros.
Wipro and TCS have asked the state government for 40 acres of land each while Infosys has demanded 100 acres for their operations. While the government has provided the land to TCS, it is in the process of finding land for the others.
Mr.Siddartha said that they were hoping to accomodate them in the proposed SEZs if possible. Wipro and TCS are already present in the state whereas Infosys is in the process of setting up base. The secretary said that the state had put a target of contributing about 15% of the country’s total revenue earning from IT exports and be among the country’s top three states in terms of generating revenues from IT related activities in the next five years.
He said that the planned SEZs would help the state achieve this target. Other companies which have charted out their expansion plans in the state include covergys, HCL Infotech and Patni. US-based Accenture is also in talks with the government for setting up its centre in Kolkata. Accenture’s Kolkata centre would be its largest accross Asia.
