KOLKATA: Within a year of Tata Motors pulling out of Singur and DLF from Dankuni, there is a shocker on the IT front in West Bengal.
The Kolkata IT Links project has been scrapped, ending prospects of a cumulative investment of Rs 1,000 crore and 10,000 jobs and dealing another body blow to the state’s image.
The IT township was supposed to facilitate IT major Infosys’ entry in Bengal and Wipro’s expansion plans.
The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had to scrap the project as Raj Modi, the MD of the private company that is scouting for land is in jail following complaints from villagers that their land was forcibly occupied.
The government agency, Webel, had floated a joint venture company with private developers to arrange land for the IT giants after they were refused land in Rajarhat New Town.
In a release posted on its website on Monday, the state IT department confirmed that the death sentence had been passed on the IT township project. “The managing director (Raj Modi) of the private partner has been arrested. The government doesn’t want to be involved in any illegal activity. Already, some departments have opined to scrap the project. It is also impossible for the IT department to proceed with the project if any of the six (other) departments refuse to facilitate. Thus, the IT department can’t proceed,’’ the statement reads.
“Under the circumstances, we are unable to stick to our assurances of providing land to Wipro and Infosys and thereby constrained to inform them about the government’s inability.”
Last year, Infosys and Wipro had said they proposed to invest Rs 500 crore each at the Kolkata IT links site, and together employ over 10,000 p
rofessionals. Infosys said it called off talks with the Buddhadeb government. The message was delivered without any reference to the ongoing controversy surrounding the infotech township venture within which the company was supposed to be given 90 acres.
“We are not in discussion with the government of West Bengal,’’ Infosys MD & CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan said.
“We are currently assessing the government’s announcement on the non-availability of land for the IT facility and we are awaiting a formal confirmation on that. We do expect and hope that the government is able to allocate suitable land to build the facility,” Wipro chief information officer Laxman Badiga said.
Central Bank of India, one of the primary funding agencies for the project, refused to comment.
The scrapping of the project, though, has raised a question mark on the bank’s ability to recover the money already spent on land acquisition since the bank can’t attach agricultural land if it has not been converted for industrial use by the Kolkata IT Links authorities.
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