West Bengal woos IT companies

R Jai Krishna

NEW DELHI: West Bengal is wooing IT companies, especially BPOs and LPOs to set-up operations in the state. As an incentive measure, the state government, for the first time in India, will be offering training subsidy for the companies.

Disclosing this to CyberMedia News here on the sidelines of the Global CXO and VCs Conclave 2007, West Bengal IT Minister, Debesh Das said that that state offers various sops and investment opportunities for the IT sector. “For the first time in India, West Bengal Government will be offering training subsidy up to Rs 20, 000 per employee for the IT companies, who establish a base in the state. This will be over and above the capital and interest subsidy, which is part of the WB industrial policy,” he informed.

When asked about the perceived business environment and trade unionism in the state, Das said: “Trade unions are not hampering growth, but are now welcoming companies to come to West Bengal.”

“In fact, in the last six months, there were seven bandhs, called by either the ruling or opposition party, but none of the BPOs operating there were affected. The companies were working as usual. This is because, we offer the flexibility to the employees to work or not, which is voluntary,” he said.

He said West Bengal too will be adopting the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for developing the IT sector. “We will be establishing four to five IT parks in the State in PPP model. The State Government will offer the land and other infrastructure to the private parties, who will in turn build the IT parks. There are two IT corridors coming up near Kolkata – one about 10-minutes drive from the airport and the other about 30-minutes drive,” he informed. However, Das did not divulge the details of the exact places.

On the companies, which have evinced interest, the WB IT minister indicated that Videocon might be establishing a semiconductor fabrication unit in the state. “A wireless innovation platform company has started its work in West Bengal and will be investing Rs 400 crores in their project,” he said.

“Our contribution to the IT sector is only three percent now and we are aiming to increase it 15 per cent in the next three years. With the change in the industrial atmosphere, we will also be providing employment to 1.5 lakh people,” Das added.

© CyberMedia News