HIDCO looks to allot 90 acres for 2nd phase of Silicon Valley Hub
Kolkata: West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) has floated Expression of Interest (EOI) for allotment of nearly 90 acres of land for the second phase of Bengal Silicon Valley IT Hub.
HIDCO is inviting applications for allotment of 18 vacant plots, having a total area of 89.489 acres to be precise.
The move assumes significance with the state Cabinet deciding to shift the IT companies from Bantala to the Silicon Valley Hub in New Town.
The decision came in the wake of a number of leather companies from Kanpur being keen on investing in Bantala. The state government is eyeing an investment of Rs 5,000 crore in the Calcutta Leather Complex in Bantala in the next five years.
As per the EOI, the special promotional price of the plots of land will be at the rate of Rs 4.70 crore per acre as a one-time lease premium applicable for each of the plots of land offered.
There is a large plot for allotment which is 25 acres, while the other 17 range from 1 acre to 6.726 acres. Allotment of plots to the selected companies will be made with provisions of grant of lease of 99 years.
According to sources in the IT department, Cognizant has two existing campuses at Bantala that employ around 7,000 people. HCL also has operational facilities on a small scale at Bantala. Cognizant has already raised environmental concerns before the state, regarding its camps at Bantala.
"It is envisaged that the proposed Silicon Valley IT hub will be leveraged by industries, professionals, investors, students and educational institutes to foster the creation of innovative technology-led business models in the IT sector. It is expected to promote a culture of innovation and research on new and emerging technologies," said a senior official of the state IT&E department.
It may be mentioned that Reliance Jio, TCS, Capgemini and Firstsource Solutions have already applied for 74 acres of land at Silicon Valley phase I. Reliance Jio has sought 40 acres of land, TCS 20 acres, Capgemini 10 acres and Firstsource 4 acres.
