Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said IT giants Wipro and Microsoft have agreed to invest in the state and added that Wipro would be allocated 50 acres of land at the Silicon Valley IT hub in New Town here, while Microsoft would start e-commerce platforms in the state.
She made the announcement while addressing a programme on "Save Green, Stay Clean" at Nazrul Mancha on Thursday afternoon.
Microsoft India will introduce two projects — 'Sangam' and 'ReWeave' in which an e-commerce platform will be created that will connect six lakh weavers of the state. The tech major had announced the launch of a new e-commerce platform for handloom weavers under its 'Project ReWeave', as part of its philanthropic initiative.
"This project will begin from Nadia district and help spur weavers' income by 25 percent," Banerjee said.
The platform would help artisans connect directly with buyers, enabling them to gain technical support and modern training, helping them to reach out to newer customers and markets, she added.
Microsoft will undertake the 'Project Sangam' here which seeks to empower municipal functionaries to run community training courses.
Besides, the company, in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), has curated a special curriculum in 'CAD and Colour for Handloom Weaving' to provide digital training in handloom design.
IT giant Infosys, which is setting up its office on 50-acre land, has completed construction of the boundary wall. Infosys officials held several rounds of talks with their counterpart in the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA). The firm has already obtained clearance from the Fire and Emergency Services department and the Environment department and is going to submit the plan for the proposed building to the NKDA.
Senior Infosys officials who had attended the inauguration of the Silicon Valley project told in presence of the Chief Minister that the office building they are going to construct will be a landmark building in New Town and Kolkata.
Banerjee maintained that the Silicon Valley in New Town is coming up on 200 acre of land. She thanked the state It department for its relentless efforts to make Bengal surge ahead in the field of Information Technology.
Mamata Banerjee has said over and again that she is keen to project Bengal as an important IT hub worldwide. She has urged the IT professionals from Bengal who are working in other states and abroad to come back to their state and start work here.
The Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) has taken up a slew of measures to upgrade traffic management in Sector V, the state's biggest IT hub.