West Bengal is formulating plan to develop the IT sector in Rajarhat in the mould of the Silicon Valley.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the aim was to create jobs and bring the state’s skilled youth back from traditional IT hubs like Hyderabad, Bangalore and even overseas.
“We plan to develop a ‘Silicon Valley Asia’ in Rajarhat,” the West Bengal CM was quoted as saying in a Business Standard report.
The state plans a startups hub along the lines of ‘Silicon Valley’ in the US, will see a host of IT and fin-tech companies setting up shop there.
It sees huge potential for employment from the talent pool available. Bengal is finalising the land details and roping industry captains, Banerjee added.
The state has already earmarked 10 acres in New Town, Rajarhat, to build a technology hub for start-ups. In October last year, Banerjee inaugurated the country’s largest business convention centre, Biswa Bangla Convention Centre at New Town, Kolkata
I inaugurated the country's largest business convention centre, Biswa Bangla Convention Centre at New Town, Kolkatahttps://t.co/cUk2QUMuQN pic.twitter.com/F3CMI2jbuY
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 13, 2017
Industrialists in West Bengal see it a clarion call for state natives working in other states to come back to Bengal.
Earlier, during the fourth edition of Bengal Global Business Summit, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced Rs 5,000 crore investment in West Bengal and said that his company will start manufacturing mobile phones and set-top boxes. Reliance has already invested around Rs 15,000 crore in the state during the past three years.
In the third edition of the event in 2017, the Trinamool Congress-led by Mamata Banerjee had garnered investment commitment worth Rs 2.35 lakh crore. At present, the state tops the list of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion’s Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2017, comprising all states and Union Territories.
West Bengal, which is a home to many small and medium scale enterprises, is one of the firsts to adopt 4G service in the country.
Last year, the state government has drafted a start-up policy, where it committed to create a central Entrepreneurship Development Centre and also fund network activities, capacity development programmes for start-ups.
