| According to Harminder Singh, Ascendas' head of North India operations, when completed, Ascendas' flagship project in Kolkata will provide two million square feet of fully-infrastructured business space for IT and software development operations, making it one of the largest IT parks in Kolkata. |
| The park will be built with an investment of Rs 400 crore and will be located within a 10,000-acre development site in Rajarhat marked out by the Government of West Bengal for a new integrated township, he added. |
| Development of ITPK will be in four phases. Construction of Phase One to create 5,00,000 square feet of Grade A space will commence in January 2006, with completion expected in early 2007. |
| At the new Ascendas Kolkata flagship, amenities will include al fresco style cafes, supermarket, food court, health club, medical clinic, travel agency, laundrette, gift shop, bookshop and autobanking "� ensconced amidst a lushly landscaped environment. |
| ITPK will also be the first International Tech Park to provide a childcare crèche catering to the needs of working parents in the park. |
| The city's compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the IT industry between 2001 and 2003 was a high of 119 per cent compared to the national average of 36 per cent. |
| To-date, West Bengal accounts for 14 per cent of the IT/ITES workforce in India, with Kolkata generating a large talent pool of over 35,000 English-educated graduates and 10,000 science and engineering graduates each year. |
| ITPK will add to the stable of top-line International Tech Parks (ITPs) that Ascendas plans to build in key cities across India, said Harminder Singh. |
| This premium project in Kolkata will follow on the success of the iconic International Tech Park, Bangalore (ITPB), which opened in 1998, and the International Tech Park, Chennai (ITPC), whose pacesetting Phase 1 building is being completed, he added. |
| The ITPs have become distinguished by the Ascendas Advantage "� first, a proven track record for quality, second, assured reliability, and third, an international business lifestyle concept that provides a host of value-added amenities and services in a vibrant work-play environment catering to highly-skilled knowledge professionals. |
| Harminder Singh further said, "Ascendas was confident that ITPK, with its cutting-edge architecture and unrivalled offerings, will raise the bar for quality business space in West Bengal. In addition, corporations will be assured of a reliable and committed management that will fully serve their business space needs to operate successfully in Kolkata." |
| The campus-like design of ITPK will capture and integrate the rich heritage and culture of West Bengal into modern-day high-tech architecture. |
| Singh added: "The business space at ITPK will be futuristic and enable greater operational flexibility and scalability for purposes including future expansion. Tenants at the park will also enjoy Ascendas' best practices through the use of our proprietary Ascendas Real Estate Management System (AREMS), giving them a near-zero operational disruption." |
| Commending on the company's entry into Kolkatta, Chong Siak Ching, President and CEO of parent company Ascendas said, "Ascendas is already in three cities and one of the few developers with an established South India portfolio. ITPK marks the extension of our pan-Indian presence, further expanding our pan-Asia geographical footprint, to serve our customers better." |
| Chong added: "Ascendas has been in India for more than 10 years since the inception of International Tech Park, Bangalore. We intend to capitalise on that lead in the market and expand faster in India. By end 2005, we will be managing four million square feet of space in India and we hope to double that in the next two years." |
| "Kolkata presents tremendous potential as an upcoming IT and ITES destination. It also offers lower operational costs compared with other metros," said Singh. |
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