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Satyam, Bharti plans city projects
Satyam and Bharti are set to set up shop in Kolkata amid an expansion binge by existing players like IBM, TCS, Cognizant and others.
IT major Satyam Computers and telecom giant Bharti Tele-Ventures are set to set up shop in the metropolis Kolkata amid an expansion binge by existing players like IBM, TCS, Cognizant and others.
Satyam would open a development centre here while Bharti Tele-Ventures has planned to set up a regional telecom hub for eastern and northeastern cellular operations in the city, West Bengal IT Secretary GD Gautama told PTI in Kolkata on Monday.
Bharti is poised to kickstart their project on a three acre plot at Nonadanga on the eastern fringes of the city on February eight while the software firm is likely to lay the foundation stone for its project later this month, he said.
Meanwhile, a number of existing players in the IT and ITES sectors like IBM, TCS, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cognizant and Computer Associates, are multiplying their capacity at the centres located here.
Besides, in a bid to strengthen the IT infrastructure and provide high bandwidth, the state government is coming up with two new software technology parks (STPs) at Haldia and Siliguri, he said.
While the Salt Lake STPs mainly comprise the software development centres, the Durgapur and Kharagpur technology parks were set up to provide bandwidth to the industry there.
"The new STP at Siliguri will be inaugurated on February 14 while the Haldia STP is expected to be completed by March," Gautama said.
The state government, he said was set to project Siliguri as the next IT hub after Salt Lake due to its locational advantage, low cost and availablity of quality manpower.
Referring to NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik's observations on the potential of the North Bengal city, he said "it is going to be the next destination for IT companies for a host of reasons - its locational advantage after opening up of the Nathu La pass, good climatic conditions and low cost of land, manpower and operations."
Already a number of city-based firms have evinced interest in opening their new offices at Siliguri, he added.
