Bengal IT sector: 5 MoUs worth Rs 4K crore inked

The two-day Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) that concluded on Wednesday emerged as a big boost to the IT sector in Bengal with five MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) signed entailing an investment of Rs 4000 crore.

The MOUs — all of which involved Webel — were signed with NTT Global Data Centers & Cloud Infrastructure India Pvt Ltd, Data Security Council of India, Adamas Tech Consulting Private Limited, Cyber Peace Foundation and Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University.

The Department of IT and Electronics along with West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited (Webel) held a sectoral session on IT & ITeS as a part of the ongoing BGBS on Wednesday at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan.

Babul Supriyo, minister-in-charge of Information Technology & Electronics and Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources department, mentioned the advantage of the geographical location of West Bengal and said that Bengal could be the gateway to the world on the distant side.

“All the neighbouring countries surrounding us have a huge promise in growing IT. West Bengal can be the next landing station for the IT industry to grow. Come, Invest in Bengal,” Supriyo said.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chairman of Webel, and chief advisor to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, during his keynote address said: “Calcutta being the erstwhile capital of colonial British India till 1911, a highly trained and very sizable knowledgeable workers’ pool has been available here in the last 2-3 centuries which is a huge resource. This fantastically dedicated pool is of advantage in the world of IT today.”

The inaugural session witnessed an address by Shekhar Sharma, CEO & managing director of NTT Global Data Centers & Cloud Infrastructure India Pvt Ltd & NTT Communications India Network Services Pvt Ltd, who explained his activities in setting up data centres and expressed his intentions to invest in West Bengal.