“What Bengalis think today, the world thinks tomorrow, that is what we believe. There is a lot of talk about brain drain from Bengal. Let us accept that it happens as we have the brains! The challenge is how to bring those brains back to Bengal,” said Babul Supriyo, West Bengal Information Technology & Electronics Minister, recently at an Assocham event in Kolkata.
Supriyo added, “I think we have everything that can make Bengal the next IT influential hub of the country.”
Will the proposed Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub, a futuristic tech hub in the city’s New Town, manage to bring back the brains and attract investment and talent in the industry-hungry State?
The ambitious project announced in 2018 has been in stop-start mode for a while but now things seem to be finally moving and the State government is confident of operations beginning in 2025.
“In Bengal Silicon Valley, the setting up of physical infrastructure has garnered traction. Altogether 45 companies were found eligible to be allotted land there in the initial screening, and till date 41 companies have been issued letters of intent by HIDCO,” government sources told businessline.
As of now 19 companies, including Reliance, Nxtra by Airtel, LTIMindtree and Japanese data centres major NTT, have started construction of their facilities at the tech hub.
Data Centres of NTT and ST Telemedia, among others, are expected to commence operations by August, 2025, the sources said.
The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), a public sector undertaking, is handling the process of granting possession of plots to the eligible companies at the hub.
LTIMindtree is developing a sprawling campus of around 21 acres to accommodate thousands of IT professionals, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has also started construction in an area spreading over 20 acres.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government believes the tech hub in New Town would attract around ₹25,000 crore investment by 2026, creating about 40,000 direct employment and at least 50,000 indirect employment. The impact will be felt in real estate, hospitality, and in the consumer market at large.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by Banerjee on August 13, 2018. The project got delayed due to Covid period.
“Bengaluru or Gurugram or Mumbai has gone ahead of us because Indians in the IT segment are ruling the world,” Supriyo had said at the Assocham event, adding, “But I can strongly assure you that these places are all super saturated.”
Certainly, costs have become prohibitive in Bengaluru and Gurugram, not to mention commuting woes – but can West Bengal, with its chequered industrial relations, promise a smooth ride?
