Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
News >> Technology >>
Bengal chases IT dream in brand new 'city'
Monday, 01 December 2003, 20:30 IST
KOLKATA: The approach road to suburban Salt Lake IT City from this teeming metropolis is traffic snarled, dusty and full of potholes.
But enter into the 150 acres of green, pollution-free hi-tech hub -- dotted with chrome and glass skyscrapers that houses some of the marquee technology companies in eastern India -- and Salt Lake IT City turns into a new generation knowledge park.
It is in complete contrast to a city that embodies all that has gone wrong with urban planning - bad roads, chaotic traffic, grimy buildings, lack of proper infrastructure and poor civic services.
Smooth and brightly lit roads, uninterrupted power, robust technology infrastructure, food joints and automated teller machines - the Salt Lake IT City is the nerve centre of technology industry in West Bengal.
The state government sees the IT City, set up a couple of years ago, as the first of a series of state-of-the-art knowledge parks to turn itself into a "preferred destination" for IT and IT Enabled Services companies.
"We know that we are a late starter among other major Indian states so far focussing on the development of IT sector is concerned," said West Bengal's IT Minister Manabendra Mukherjee.
"But we are quite sure of our potential and we will be one of the major contributors in the Indian IT industry's growth," Mukherjee told IANS, sitting in his office at Writer's Building, the seat of West Bengal government.
"Our status has been raised today with the setting up of office of a large number of reputed IT companies, though it's not quite at the level it deserves."
The Communist-ruled state, long seen as an industrialist's bane with labour unrest, poor infrastructure and an investor-unfriendly government, is now going all out to roll out red carpets to tech firms by harping on its competitive advantages.
"Our vision is to rank among the top three IT states in India by 2010 and contribute 15 percent of the country's total IT revenue and we have all the ingredients in place to make this happen," said Mukherjee.
Software exports from West Bengal touched 
12 billion in the financial year ended March 31, 2003 and it is projected to cross 18 billion in the current fiscal year.
India's software and services industry achieved 26.3 percent exports growth in fiscal year 2002-03 clocking revenues of 461 billion.
"We have a huge quality talent pool, cost of operations in West Bengal is significantly lower, we offer continuous supply of power at a low cost, and we have significantly improved major areas of physical infrastructure.
"West Bengal is also the first state in the country to declare the IT industry as a public utility service, permitting women to work at night and allowing companies to run three shifts irrespective of national holidays."
But the state still carries the baggage of darker days of frequent labour strikes, resulting in production loss for days together or, at worst, closing down of the factory in the face of mounting revenue slippages.
"Yes, there is a perception problem and we are doing all we can to change it. And the perception is slowly changing now. There have been no labour problems ever among IT professionals," said the minister.
"IT and IT Enabled Services labour force in the state is completely non-unionised. The government has taken a proactive steps to ensure there is no work disruption due to labour unrest," he added.
Mukherjee said the government was also in the process of setting up two more state-of-the-art IT parks with a total area of 140 acres on the outskirts of the state capital to house IT and IT Enabled Services companies.
"The new parks will have commercial as well as residential units with all facilities like hospitals, entertainment zones, and banks. The parks will be fully integrated electronics complex," he said.
The minister said while the state would target, in the long run, both software services and IT Enabled Services companies, its focus in the short term would be on the latter, which is expected to record explosive growth over the next few years.
In IT Enabled Services sector, the state is targeting 20 percent share of the country's business process outsourcing's total revenues by 2010 and 18-20 percent share of the call centre business.
The state has so far managed to attract major software makers and IT Enabled Services firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Computer Associates, IBM, ITC Infotech, and Usha Infocom.
"We are in talks with some of the companies like ICICI Onesource, Unilever, and Reliance Infocomm for setting up their back office operations in Kolkata," said Mukherjee.
Source: IANS
12 billion in the financial year ended March 31, 2003 and it is projected to cross 18 billion in the current fiscal year.
India's software and services industry achieved 26.3 percent exports growth in fiscal year 2002-03 clocking revenues of 461 billion.
"We have a huge quality talent pool, cost of operations in West Bengal is significantly lower, we offer continuous supply of power at a low cost, and we have significantly improved major areas of physical infrastructure.
"West Bengal is also the first state in the country to declare the IT industry as a public utility service, permitting women to work at night and allowing companies to run three shifts irrespective of national holidays."
But the state still carries the baggage of darker days of frequent labour strikes, resulting in production loss for days together or, at worst, closing down of the factory in the face of mounting revenue slippages.
"Yes, there is a perception problem and we are doing all we can to change it. And the perception is slowly changing now. There have been no labour problems ever among IT professionals," said the minister.
"IT and IT Enabled Services labour force in the state is completely non-unionised. The government has taken a proactive steps to ensure there is no work disruption due to labour unrest," he added.
Mukherjee said the government was also in the process of setting up two more state-of-the-art IT parks with a total area of 140 acres on the outskirts of the state capital to house IT and IT Enabled Services companies.
"The new parks will have commercial as well as residential units with all facilities like hospitals, entertainment zones, and banks. The parks will be fully integrated electronics complex," he said.
The minister said while the state would target, in the long run, both software services and IT Enabled Services companies, its focus in the short term would be on the latter, which is expected to record explosive growth over the next few years.
In IT Enabled Services sector, the state is targeting 20 percent share of the country's business process outsourcing's total revenues by 2010 and 18-20 percent share of the call centre business.
The state has so far managed to attract major software makers and IT Enabled Services firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Computer Associates, IBM, ITC Infotech, and Usha Infocom.
"We are in talks with some of the companies like ICICI Onesource, Unilever, and Reliance Infocomm for setting up their back office operations in Kolkata," said Mukherjee.
Source: IANS