Nasscom slams West Bengal Govt. for scrapping IT township project

Last week, West Bengal government announced that it "cannot proceed" with the proposed Kolkata Link IT township project near Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas district after allegations of irregularities in the allocation process rattled the state government.

The government's decision came seventeen days after an irate mob set on fire Vedic Village, a spa resort near Rajarhat. An initial probe into the incident has revealed that land sharks had illegally obtained the land for Vedic Village from poor farmers "at gunpoint" thereby infuriating the local villagers and triggering a clash between them and the local goons. Following the violence, illegal arms were also seized by the police from the Vedic Village and its promoter Vedic Realty's Managing Director Raj Kishore Modi was arrested on charges of involving the land mafia in procuring land from farmers. Rattled by the incident, the state government decided to put a brake in its ambitious 1600-acre township project billed as the state's second software hub.

Later, state housing minister had offered 10 acres of land each in an alternate location in Rajarhat to Wipro and Infosys but his offer found no takers as it was much less than the 90 acres of land each of the two IT majors were supposed to receive for setting up IT SEZs.

The latest development comes as a personal blow to Bhattacharjee, whose government is taking its baby steps to industrialization. In early 2007, the state government said it would move a proposed chemical hub from Nandigram in East Midnapore district after 14 died in a violent clash between police forces and local villagers. West Bengal was also hit by the high-profile exit of carmaker Tata Motors last year, when violent farmer protests prompted Tata Motors to shift a Rs.2000 crore plant to produce the world's cheapest car out of the state. Bhattacharjee also suffered the worst political setback of his career in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year in May.

Expressing disappointment, Nasscom president Som Mittal said the state government should have been more proactive in acquiring land for the IT projects and should "re-prioritize" its land allocation policy for IT projects in the state, as they can create a lot of downstream economic activity.

"It is unfortunate that the project had to be shelved. It had taken West Bengal a long time to build its reputation as an IT destination," Mittal said. "We are disappointed, but we are not giving up. At this juncture, we feel that both the state and the central governments should play a positive role to find alternate ways to accommodate these large IT companies. It is very important to give priority to large IT companies (like Infosys and Wipro) which are willing to expand their presence in the state, and ensure a sustainable atmosphere for (their) operations."