IT major Infosys has almost decided to scrap its proposed project at Rajarhat-New Town in Kolkata after the Mamata Banerjee government refused to write to the Centre to give SEZ (special economic zone) status to the facility. The company has informally communicated to the government that it would not go ahead with the project and a formal announcement is expected soon. The company officials are likely to inform state IT minister Partha Chatterjee about the decision when they meet him next time, possibly this week. The Wipro’s proposed project at New Town may also be a non-starter with the same SEZ status issue. If these two projects go away from the state, opportunities of creating one lakh jobs (20,000 direct and 80,000 indirect) would be lost.
Mr Chatterjee had on February 20 said that the state government would not forward the Infosys’ application to the Centre for granting IT-SEZ status to the company’s proposed facility at Rajarhat-New Town. Instead, the state government was working out an alternative facilities for the IT major to compensate it, he added.
However, according to high-level sources at the Writers’ Buildings, Mr Chatterjee, till recently, had tried to persuade the chief minister on granting the SEZ status to the Infosys’ proposed facility in a desperate attempt to make the project happen. But the chief minister turned down his plea.
“After being informed about the government’s views, the Infosys has informally informed the state IT department that it would not set up the project. In the absence of SEZ status, the company would be at disadvantageous position on many issues,” sources revealed.
The previous Left Front government had allotted a 50-acre plot at New Town to Infosys for its first centre in Bengal. It had also promised to give the SEZ status. But after the change of power in the state, the promise is not being kept. “If the Infosys finally scraps the project, it will definitely send a wrong message about the investment climate in Bengal. Ironically, Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy is the mentor of the IT panel which has been constituted by the Mamata Banerjee government to bring more investment in the IT sector in the state,” an IT industry expert said.