West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today put his best foot forward to retain Infosys and Wipro's IT projects by offering both companies 45 acres each in New Town, Rajarhat, on the north-eastern fringes of Kolkata.
Both companies had originally been offered land at an IT township called Kolkata Links located near a spa and resort called Vedic Village which erupted in controversy last month over the manner in which it was acquiring land for the township project.
Addressing his first industry-related press conference since the routing of the Left Front in the Lok Sabha elections, Bhattacharjee said, “I am proposing through the media that we are ready to give 45 acres each to Wipro and Infosys at Rajarhat. Wipro and Infosys will be contacted by my colleagues tomorrow.”
The allotments, however, are half the original allotment of 90 acres each at Kolkata Links.
In a text message, Laxman Badiga, CIO, Wipro Technologies, said, “We are glad to hear that the West Bengal government has expressed its commitment towards the growth of the IT industry in the state. We look forward to hearing from them officially on this matter.”
Infosys did not comment on the issue. Repeated phone calls went unanswered.
New Town is spread over 7,000 acres with schools, housing complexes and other social infrastructure, some of which is being developed. New Town happened to be the first choice for the IT companies when they evinced interest, but prices were prohibitive.
In 2005, the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) rates for New Town land was Rs 2.16 crore an acre, while Infosys and Wipro had indicated rates of Rs 30-40 lakh an acre. TCS, however, bought 40 acres at Rs 1.5 crore an acre in early 2007 at New Town, which could be the starting point for negotiations, said some industry sources.
Bhattacharjee said the land price would be negotiated. He said, there was a standard rate that IT and real estate companies had paid but the price would be negotiated with Wipro and Infosys.
Housing minister and HIDCO Chairman Gautam Deb said the companies were earlier offered Rs 1.5 crore an acre, but had declined. In the meantime, HIDCO had also developed infrastructure in New Town. “Let’s see what they say,” said Deb.
HIDCO was set up as a government company in April 1999 and given powers to acquire and sell land, develop infrastructure services, construct housing and commercial premises and also maintain New Town.
According to the chief minister, the two companies would create 16,000 jobs. Wipro already has a campus at Salt Lake, the IT hub of Kolkata, which houses around 6,500 employees.
