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| Red Brigade at B'lore IT mart |
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| NASSCOM inaugrates Regional Office in Kolkata (7th Sep'07) |
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Aims
to Strengthen Focus on Eastern Region
NASSCOM the premier trade body and the "voice" of the Indian IT industry, today inaugurated its regional office in Kolkata today. The office will be located at
Webel Bhawan, Salt Lake City in Kolkata. To mark the opening of the office,
NASSCOM organized a seminar to discuss issues in the region which would be focus areas for the regional office which was attended by dignitaries including Dr. Debesh Das, Hon'ble Minister-in-Charge, Department of IT, Government of West Bengal as chief guest and Shri Siddhartha, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, GoWB.
NASSCOM has been present in West Bengal through several industry events and has over 35 members in the region, in addition to a strong presence of members including leading multinational and domestic IT players, headquartered elsewhere.
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Elaborating NASSCOM's plans in the Eastern
region, Mr. Kiran Karnik, President,
NASSCOM said, "In line with
NASSCOM's overall objective of promoting
the IT industry in emerging locations, we
are happy to announce the formal opening of
our regional office in Kolkata today. This
centre will focus on the entire
north-eastern region, Orissa and West
Bengal, for various activities and
initiatives undertaken by NASSCOM. We are
looking at a small setup to begin and to
enable this center to address the needs of
the industry in this region. Historically,
West Bengal, and Kolkata in particular have
been well positioned to cater to this
industry's requirements, offering an
abundant and suitable talent pool to draw
upon, an infrastructure well designed to
support the industry and a favourable policy
framework. The support we have received from
the government has also been most
encouraging."
Talking about the focus for the region, Mr.
Karnik said "NASSCOM has signed an MoU
with the West Bengal University of Technical
Education, through which we will be rolling
out the NAC program in the state in the
early 2008 timeframe. NASSCOM has also
signed an MoU with Ministry of Development
of North Eastern Region (DONER) with an
objective of administering NAC to 20,000
students across eight states, between
September '07 and January '08. We hope
these initiatives will go a long way in
strengthening and showcasing the human
resource potential the position of these
states, for the Indian IT sector".
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| Experts
call for Software self reliance |
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Experts
call for Software self reliance
Dependence in software development may lead
to high cost of acquisition of technololgy
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
B.V.Shiva Shankar
BANGALORE: Even as IT sector is in
upbeat mood with good corporate results and
robust growth rate, industry experts,
foreseeing challenges in future, have called
upon Governments to create business
environment to enable the sector to face
global competition that is destined to be
stiffer in coming days.
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Participating in a panel discussion – IT
Sector: Opportunities & challenges in
the next decade- organized by Webel, a nodal
agency of Government of West Bengal, experts
stressed the need of self reliance as India
is lagging behind in software development
besides showing a remarkable progress in
services. Without gaining grounds in
software and hardware development, cost of
acquisition of technology would be the
greatest challenge and India would end up
paying hefty amounts to the giants like
America, they felt.
Dwelling upon Patent issues, Jaijith
Bhattacharya, Country Director, Govt.
Strategy, Sun Microsystems India, termed
Patents and Standards with punitive measures
as non-tariff barriers that hinder growth.
Leading to digital colonialism, he said,
these non-tariff barriers would drag
developing countries into tech- slavery.
Touching upon Governments initiatives, J.
Parthasarathy, Director, STPI, appealed
the state governments to come out with
liberal policies, which ensure inclusive
development covering SME sector.
Infrastructure development in teir-2 cities
must be given importance, he said. Rural
connectivity must be of top priority
according to Nagendra Venkataswamy, MD,
Juniper India ltd. Dr. Pradip K. Datta,
President & Managing Director, Synopsys,
emphasized on Electronic manufacturing.
Taking hardware challenges into account
Semiconductor must be national agenda, he
said.
Anal K. Jain, CEO, Bodhi Technologies
moderated the discussion, while the
panelists rated need of rising standards of
education and retention of talent as the
topmost issue. |
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| CIOL Bureau |
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| Plot rate key to IT growth- Minister has plate full |
The Telegraph, Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
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Unionisation
issues, exorbitant land prices,
strikes and bandhs and slowdown in
exports. Debesh Das, Bengal's new
information technology (IT)
minister, has a lot on his plate.
Whether wooing Infosys to ink a deal
or treading the line carefully
between trade unions and the
corporate sector, Das has his work
cut out. |
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| Das
told Metro: "With regard to land pricing,
it has to be worked out very quickly, since
we are in urgent need of plots. I plan to
sit down with chief minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee and Hidco officials soon to
sort out the matter."
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Manab Mukherjee's successor admitted that
the price of land in the state was higher
than in other 'rival' IT destinations
and that was possibly acting as a deterrent
to potential investors.
"Bengal has been a late starter and we
cannot afford to let these issues slow down
progress. A major obstacle has been that
most companies prefer land near the airport.
We have been trying to convince them to look
at other areas as well," added Das.
With Hidco standing its ground, leading to a
rate war over plots, the IT department has
decided to acquire land to the tune of 630
acres in phases. An expression of interest
has already been issued for about 300 acres
in Jagadishpur. Das said the land acquired
by the department would be sold at a price
substantially lower than the Hidco rate of
Rs 2.16 crore per acre.
"The land rate will be lower than the
prevailing rate in Rajarhat. We plan to
select our associate from the private sector
soon to develop the land. I am hopeful that
we will be able to accomplish this by June
or July," he added.
Software giant Infosys has shown interest in
setting up its next campus in the city. The
company even sent a team to scout possible
locations. Despite chief mentor N. R.
Narayana Murthy praising Calcutta for its
infrastructure and the chief minister for
his initiative, the land pricing issue at
Rajarhat has been the roadblock to a deal.
"We have sent an e-mail to them and expect
a reply very soon. The land pricing issue is
the main problem. In fact, the Infosys
matter was the first point of discussion
between the chief minister and me. We are
going to sit down with Hidco and try to sort
it out soon," said Das.
While he would not want a September 29,
2005-like bandh during his tenure, Das also
made it clear that unionization in the IT
sector was an issue where he would toe the
party line.
"According to our party policy, workers
have the right to form unions in the IT
sector and have a collective bargaining
power. However, we understand that work in
the BPOs cannot be disrupted. It depends
totally on whether they want unions or
not. The party will not do anything to
hamper investments," elaborated Das,
clarifying that forming a union did not
necessarily mean calling strikes.
He promised to take steps to improve the
crumbling infrastructure in Sector V.
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| Webel optimistic about Bengal's IT dreams |
The Statesman, Monday, September 25, 2006 |
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Supantha
Mukherjee
India is fast becoming an
information technology powerhouse
with West Bengal joining other
states in the race to become a major
IT hub. A driving force behind
Bengal's phenomenal growth in this
sector is Webel.
Mr
Debanjan Dutta, managing director and CEO of
Webel, says West Bengal will soon overtake
others states in the race.
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Speaking to The Statesman, Mr Dutta said: "Webel's focus is not only on IT but also on the electronics sector. If the pace of growth of the IT sector is maintained, India is likely to do business worth $36 billion by March 2007, as was projected by Nasscom a couple of years back. But the figure was achieved a year ahead of the projection, in which Bengal's share was approximately Rs 5,000 crore, including overseas and domestic business. The figure is projected to double by 2010, which translates into $72 billion and West Bengal has targeted to achieve 15 per cent of that projection which translates into approximately Rs 45,000 crore worth of business".
However, to fulfil Bengal's dream, he quips: "There are a few obstacles which need to be overcome. Till now what we have done is in Kolkata only. Outside that, the other places in the state hardly has any infrastructure suitable for IT. Even in Kolkata, only Sector V in Salt Lake is developed".
Hence he stresses on the need to look beyond Kolkata. "We are developing 330 acres of land near Rajarhat, which will be another Sector V. Outside Kolkata, we are developing areas near the airport, Joka and Howrah. Also, we are planning to develop IT parks in Siliguri, Haldia, Durgapur and Kharagpur".
Speaking about the ongoing projects, he said: "We'll be developing our own IT parks in Sector V, where we might go with 50:50 joint ventures with private parties. The reason being that we will be making multiple properties requiring huge funds. Secondly, the leaders in Indian real estate are not present in Kolkata. We may attract them as we have done in the case of Infosys, Satyam etc., by giving land, the price of which will be shared by us. But there will be a few conditions, such as they will have to develop some properties outside Kolkata, in locations such as Siliguri, Haldia, Durgapur and Kharagpur. Thirdly, one of the reasons for private participation is that they would do the marketing of the towers by selling or renting them".
Asked about the slow progress of IT outside Kolkata, he said that in those locations, there is hardly any infrastructure today. Hence large IT companies cannot be expected to go there. Only small and medium size companies may go there.
Mr Dutta said that apart from infrastructure, another important factor is the people. IT is a people driven industry. Lack of well qualified people have added to the supply crunch. In a few years, IT industry in Bengal would require around 1,50,000 professionals and the engineering colleges are lagging behind to fill up this gap. "Webel is working on an idea ~ given by the state IT minister ~ to increase the practical knowledge of fresh engineering graduates. Webel along with some technical institutes would retrain the engineering graduates at a fee", the Webel MD said.
How's Mr Dutta coping with the delays and red-tapism of a government-run organization, since he comes from a private corporate giant like Crompton Greaves? "The decision making process is bound to be slow in a government organisation as against a private organisation. But things are definitely improving. Further more, the clean image of the present chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and efficient administration of the Bengal government will definitely help attract IT giants to Kolkata", Mr Dutta said.
Mr Dutta paints a rosy picture of Bengal. But given the poor infrastructure of the state, will the dream come true ?
Well, before making any comment, we'll have to wait and see what happens in the coming years.
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| West Bengal pitches for IT in Bangalore |
Hindu Business Line, Sunday, October 29, 2006 |
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IT
IS BENGAL: Dr Debesh Das,
Minister for IT, West Bengal, and Mr
Siddharth, IT Secretary, addressing
a meet at the Bangalore IT. in 2006.
- G R N Somashekar
Bangalore's loss could be Kolkata's gain. Promising better infrastructure and supply of good talent, West Bengal, relatively a newcomer in the IT sector was seen aggressively wooing investment from hi-end technology firms at BangaloreIT.in 2006.
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Mr Debesh Das, Minister for IT, West Bengal,
told a press conference that his State was
keen to invite investments from technology
firms in areas of semi-conductor/VLSI design
and wireless mobility, among others.
"We are meeting officials of several
firms, including Texas Instruments, Cadence,
Intel and Synopsys, and have asked them to
consider setting up their second centres in
Kolkata," Mr Das said. The State is
also keen to invite hardware manufacturing
companies, he said.
Faced with problems of non-availability of
land, increasing wage pressure and scramble
for talent, majority of the IT firms in
Bangalore are looking at other cities to
expand their operations.
Firms such as Infosys Technologies, Wipro
and ITC Infotech, have already approached
seeking land to set up operations.
"We are in the process of acquiring
some 1,000 acres of land near the Kolkata
airport and expect to provide land to these
firms within this fiscal," Mr Das said.
Infosys has sought 100 acres, while Wipro
and TCS have asked for 50 acres each.
Further, Mr Das also said his State aimed at
increasing its share in the country's total
IT exports to 15 per cent by 2011. At
present, West Bengal with exports of over Rs
3,000 crore accounts for about 3-4 per cent
of total IT exports.
"We aim to grow our exports at over 100
per cent in the next five years," he
said.
Mr Siddharth, IT Secretary, said the State
was also keen to develop STPI facilities at
Haldia, Durgapur, Kharagpur and Siliguri.
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| PUBLIC
UTILITY STATUS |
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| West
Bengal, Mr Das said, has declared IT as a
public utility service and the move to bring
in unionism in IT sector would not have any
impact on the investments. "We are not
opposing the promotion of IT unions, but it
depends on the employees to join them,"
he said. |
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