BENGAL IT DEPT SHORTLISTS 3
Kolkata
Business Standard
Three companies--Mahindra Lifespace, Raheja group, and
State IT department sources said, "The three shortlisted bidders are Mahindra Lifespace, a Mahindra & Mahindra group company,
The 100 acre IT park is expected to be operational in five years from the zero date.
Webel floated the tender on September 12, inviting expression of interest (EOI) for the proposed IT park at Kalyani to be developed in public-private partnership mode. The department received several bids but shortlisted three firms.
The state needs to augment its infrastructure, around 30 new IT companies have come to Bengal in the first half of this year till date, mainly export oriented, for which infrastructure would have to be upgraded, said Debesh Das, state IT minister.
At present, the total IT space available for the IT/ITES industry in the state was about 7-8 million square feet of office space and another 20 million square feet of office space was currently under construction dedicated exclusively for the IT industry, which will be added over the next 2-3 years' time.
“With the financial meltdown, the completion date might be delayed by another year or two,” said Das.
One of the main problems because of which many of the IT projects in
Wipro and Infosys signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the state government last year but were yet to get possession of the 90-acre land (each) that they sought for. “The department is in the process of getting the land. It will take some time,” said Das. In 2007, DLF had announced it would develop a state-of-the art world class facility on 25 acres for IT/ITeS workspace. The project had got SEZ status, but the company has applied for a denotification and has been allowed to go forth with the IT projects sans SEZ status.
“Definitely infrastructure projects are going slow in the state because of the recession, but DLF's decision to denotify the Rajarhat IT SEZ project will not affect infrastructure scenario. Now the company will get more domestic clients in place of those involved in IT exports, a major requisite for SEZs. Both ways, we stand to gain. Sector V is not an SEZ, but it has attracted many a big players,” said Das.
UP GOVT URGED TO SET UP IT PARK FOR SMES
Virendra Singh Rawat, New Delhi/Lucknow
Business Standard
The information technology industry in Uttar Pradesh has urged the government to set up an IT park in the Lucknow Industrial Development Authority (Lida).
Since, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for over 60 percent of state industries, the industry wants the IT Park to be dedicated to the sector.
Besides, the industry wants simpler registration process for the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and subsidy for IT solutions for medium small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).
“The STPI registration process is very cumbersome. Despite
Lida is a proposed industrial enclave along the Lucknow-Kanpur highway. The corridor is likely to give a major fillip to the industrial and commercial development in the region on the lines of Noida.
IIA proposes to take up massive awareness campaign on IT use among MSMEs in collaboration with industry associations and solution providers. Recently, an IIA delegation met UP principal secretary - IT department, Chandra Prakash to discuss IT use for disseminating updated, relevant and accurate information to the investors in UP.
“The objective was to find ways and means to facilitate the much-desired investment in UP by attracting potential investors from
During a recent visit to
SEZ DECISION: MATANHY SLAMS CENTRE
Panaji
The Times of
Even as the state government remained tightlipped over the Centre's decision to allow the K Raheja group more time to develop their special economic zone (SEZ) in Goa, official sources said the government will once again approach the Centre and urge it to denotify the notified SEZs in
Reacting to the Centre's latest decision, Matanhy Saldanha, the convenor of
Saldanha said the state government had all along said it did not want SEZs in Goa and that the former commerce minister Kamal Nath had also said the Centre would not thrust SEZs on
In