The Hindu Business Line : Bengal to create more built-in IT space

AN additional four million sq ft of "built-in IT space" will be created in Kolkata by March 31, 2006, according to Mr Manab Mukherjee, West Bengal's Minister for Information Technology.

Addressing a gathering at the foundation-stone-laying ceremony of the Rs 80-crore Infinity Benchmark project here on Monday, Mr Mukherjee said that besides IT workspace, appropriate social infrastructure would be created to enhance Kolkata's attractiveness as an investment destination for IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) companies. "We shall create the social infrastructure before and in advance of the demand for IT workspace," he said.

According to him, the idea in the long term was to position Kolkata as India's number one IT destination with state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and other facilities such as car parking, electronics marts, clubs, tennis courts, recreational facilities and restaurants. He said that, in Sector V of Salt Lake, which houses the Salt Lake Electronics Complex where most software companies are located, between 40,000 and 50,000 people would soon be engaged in each shift.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ravindra Chamaria, Chairman & Managing Director of Infinity Infotech Parks Pvt Ltd, said the Infinity Benchmark was a composite business infrastructure project located in West Bengal's IT hub. It is being set up at a cost of Rs 80 crore and will be completed within the next 15 months. The facility will have three lakh square feet of IT-empowered workspace and 2.5 lakh square feet of social infrastructure such as food courts, car parks, swimming pool, restaurants, a tennis court, spasand a mini-theatre.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Other States

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