WB, Wipro's logjam over land allotment unsettled
The prolonged logjam over land allotment by the West Bengal government to Wipro continues. Friday's closed door meeting in the city between West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Wipro chairman Azim Premji failed to resolve matters.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: The prolonged logjam over land allotment by the West Bengal government to Wipro continues. Friday's closed door meeting in the city between West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Wipro chairman Azim Premji failed to resolve matters.
Information trickling in suggests Wipro has reiterated its position that it wants a shade over 50 acres in Rajarhat and is unwilling to shell out beyond Rs 70 lakh per acre to state-owned Hidco, said a top state government source.
This would be substantially less than Hidco's revised asking rate which is in the Rs 1.5-1.8 crore per acre range. Hidco's original rate was Rs 2.16 crore per acre, which had been rejected outright by the Wipro management more than a year ago.
At this stage, neither the state chief minister nor the Wipro chairman is willing to divulge what transpired at the closed door meeting.
"Things will always get sorted out with the chief minister," Mr Premji told reporters after the meeting with Mr Bhattacharjee on Friday. The Wipro chairman was in town to attend CII's National Council meeting on Friday.
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When quizzed in this light Mr Bhattacharjee, who was also present at the CII proceedings, declined to make any comments on the Wipro land allotment case. Nevertheless, it is learnt that the chief minister has reiterated his offer to Mr Premji of an alternate location near the Kolkata Airport at a throwaway rate of Rs 50 lakh per acre.
However, this land will first need to be acquired by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) which is still some way off. The WBIDC proposes to acquire close to 800-odd acres and in the first flush offer prime plots to the likes of Infosys, Wipro and ITC Infotech.
In fact, state industry secretary, Sabyasachi Sen, confirmed that land in such an alternate location was yet to be identified and acquired by the state government.
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"If Wipro is not comfortable with the price at Rajarhat we can offer them alternate land at prices that may be more suitable. But there is no decision yet," he added. Download
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