At a time when a number of big IT firms are showing interest in West Bengal, city-based firm RP Infosystems Private Limited, which manufactures computers under the 'Chirag' brand name, has decided to shift operations from its present location at Howrah to Barapani SEZ in Meghalaya.
Chairman of RP Info Kaustuv Roy told reporters that the Barapani SEZ would provide tax holidays on income and sales tax, besides 40 per cent subsidy on electricity, in addition to non-imposition of excise duty for a period of 10 years.
He said cost of operations in West Bengal has become totally unviable due to imposition of all kinds of levies, which was making the products expensive.
Roy claimed that the state government was not giving any impetus to the local hardware companies, on the contrary doling out big incentives to renowned software firms for setting up shops in the region.
For this purpose, RP Info is entering into a joint venture agreement with the Meghalaya government, which would provide infrastructural support and land. "A separate company would have to be floated", he said.
Roy said the staff would be relocated from Howrah to Barapani where housing infrastructure would be provided by the Meghalaya government.
{{/usCountry}}Roy said the staff would be relocated from Howrah to Barapani where housing infrastructure would be provided by the Meghalaya government.
{{/usCountry}}The company employs around 385 people in manufacturing and marketing.
About business plans of the company, Roy said the firm was looking at opening retail outlets across the state.
He said plans are there to open 26 such outlets, adding that the company was also toying with the idea to be present at leading shopping malls in the city.
Besides West Bengal, the company was also looking at the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and the north-east region.
About exports, he said the company was targeting the Bangladesh market. He said RP Info was in talks with some Bangladeshi distributors for selling Chirag computers there.
Roy said the company had already invested Rs 35 crore to Rs 40 crore, adding that another investment of Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore was in the pipeline.
He said the target revenue for the current year is Rs 356 crore. About sales, he said the company had been selling nearly 4250 units per month.
The company also launched Linux-based operating system in Bengali.
RP Info also plans to launch laptop at the price range of Rs 24,500 in July-end.