Land bank for IT projects in Kolkata

KOLKATA: At a time when the state government is preparing a land bank for industrial projects, the West Bengal IT department has kicked off the process of creating an exclusive land bank for IT/ITeS projects near Kolkata. The IT department wishes to unlock prime areas in North/South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Nadia districts which may be developed into satellite IT hubs.

Elaborating, the West Bengal IT secretary, Mr Siddharth told ET: “We have recently instructed district magistrates in these areas to identify prime land which can be used to set up IT parks. We intend to develop areas near the city fringes into satellite IT hubs.” The IT department has issued specific instructions about basic parameters for the land identification exercise.

There are instructions not to identify prime agricultural land and land that is inhabited. The other requirements are good connectivity with airport and proximity to social infrastructure as in shopping malls or entertainment zones,” said Mr Siddharth.

Incidentally, the state IT department is keen to identify land already in the state government’s possession for IT/ITeS ventures to ensure minimum social and political hassles. “This is possible since IT projects require much less land. For starters, we have identified 100 acres owned by the state government in Nadia district,” Mr Siddharth said.

On the state government’s strategy to develop IT/ITeS projects in the fringes and adjacent districts of Kolkata, Mr Siddharth said: “Areas in Kolkata are slowly getting saturated and land price is equally very high. But these areas which we now want to develop are relatively near to the metropolis and have a significantly lower real estate price.” Incidentally, the state has already announced intentions to develop IT/ITeS hubs at Siliguri, Durgapur, Kharagpur, Kalyani and Haldia. “We want to develop IT infrastructure in these areas on land which is already owned by the state. For this, we are working with the local development authorities,” the IT secretary said.

The IT department is working with Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority for the IT park at Siliguri and Asansol Durgapur Development Authority for the project in Durgapur. It is also in the process of identifying available government land at Kalyani and Haldia. The state is also acquiring 300 acres of barren land in Kharagpur for an IT-cum-biotech park.