The Hindu Business Line : `Infosys to set up centre in Kolkata'

INFOSYS has agreed "in-principle" to set up a software development-cum-business process outsourcing centre in Kolkata, according to Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Delivering the inaugural address at an industry academia meet for the IT & ITES sector organised here on Friday by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Nasscom and the Government of West Bengal, Mr Bhattacharjee said a team of Infosys officials would come to Kolkata to survey the infrastructure facilities available here.

Mr Bhattacharjee enumerated the factors that contributed to West Bengal's attractiveness as an ideal destination for IT and ITES companies. While several IT majors have already set up operations here, some companies such as GE Capital, ITC Infotech and HSBC have announced plans to set up operations soon. Among the Fortune 500 companies, 250 were being serviced out of West Bengal.

Mr Bhattacharjee said that Wipro, which was allotted 18 acres of land at the Salt Lake Electronics Complex here for setting up its BPO operations, has asked for another 40 acres of land for expanding its operations.

According to him, the software technology park here was the fastest growing in the country, and had clocked a growth of 120 per cent last year against the national average of 36 per cent.

Mr Bhattacharjee urged the academia to interact closely with the industry and design course curricula In his address, the President of Nasscom, Mr Kiran Karnik, said West Bengal had made its presence felt in IT, ITES and animation, and the State would play a major role in helping the nation achieve its software export target of $50 billion by 2008.

Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of the programme, Mr Devashish Ghosh, COO of Wipro Spectramind, said the company would ramp up its set-up here to more than 1,000 seats within 6-8 months from 400 seats currently.

Wipro has already invested Rs 100 crore in the BPO project here, he said.

More Stories on : Software | Industry Associations | Other States

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page