IT exports from Bengal up 18 pc since 2011: Mitra

IT and ITes exports from West Bengal during the last three years had grown by 18 per cent, state's IT Minister Amit Mitra said.
"The volume of software exports by companies located in West Bengal has grown by more than 18 per cent in the past three years," he said at a CII seminar here today.
Mitra said: "When we came to office in 2011, software exports from this state stood at Rs 9,524 crore. As per the 2012-13 figures, it is Rs 11,200 crore. Credit must go to the new government which has been able to create an enabling environment and adopted certain policies to boost business in West Bengal."

It was a tremendous achievement for a state which has an IT workforce of 1,80,000, he said.
The minister said IT giants such as TCS and Cognizant Solutions had already revealed their plans to hire thousands of people is a pointer to West Bengal's growing status as an important hub of the IT industry.
"This government has also decided to embrace IT in disbursing projects at the village level. It means lots of government projects are coming up and lots of business for the private sector," Mitra said.

"Private companies can grow by leaps and bounds when it comes to implementing government projects," he said.

Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Bangladesh Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said the Bangladesh government's special emphasis on strengthening digital infrastructure was a huge opportunity for Indian companies, especially from the eastern region.
Bangladesh hopes it would immensely benefit from India's rich experience and expertise in the IT space, he added.