Infosys Centre in New Town poised to attract greater investments to Bengal Silicon Valley

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s inauguration of the iconic Infosys Development Centre in New Town on Wednesday has further increased the prospect of other big companies investing in more IT offices in Bengal Silicon Valley.

Recently, two British IT companies that work in the area of cyber security and artificial intelligence (AI) have expressed interest in investing in Bengal. Such an announcement was made after a British delegation recently visited Kolkata.

The two companies – RedoQ Limited and Praeferre- that expressed interest in investing in the state will generate employment for 600-odd people.

The companies are a part of the 17 leading UK organisations, all of which are at the forefront of technological innovation in AI and Semiconductors.

Sources said the Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) department has assured all cooperation to these companies on behalf of the state government.

Surya Pratim Mukhopadhyay of RedoQ Limited said that their Kolkata office will start functioning from January and by June next year 560-580 employees will be hired.

The general manager of Praeferre, Sourav Sengupta had informed that they will be starting a Kolkata office from January. “We will be starting with 40-45 people and more people will be hired as we progress,” he added.

Andrew Fleming, the British Deputy High Commissioner to East and North-East India had said that a skilled workforce and much lesser tendency among employees in quitting jobs has assumed significance for the delegation in terms of investment in Bengal. Additionally, the IT&E department is also working towards setting up a drone academy in Kolkata.

The state is also offering sops for IT-enabled services (ITeS).

This includes an extra 15 per cent floor area ratio being offered for ITeS buildings along with 100 per cent electricity duty waiver and 100 per cent stamp duty waiver under West Bengal Data Centre Policy 2021.