West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee formally inaugurated the 50-acre campus of Infosys in Kolkata on Wednesday. The project, which includes a development centre, will employ more than 4,000 people.
Before setting up this sprawling new campus at New Town in Rajarhat, Infosys in Kolkata operated out of a rented office. The IT giant, which is present in more than 50 countries across the globe, will finally have its base in Kolkata after the project was delayed by multiple hurdles.
“We already have Wipro, TCS, Tech Mahindra and many other big companies in Kolkata, but my desire was that Infosys must come,” said CM Banerjee. “We have the human capital, skills and talent pool. Our boys and girls are working everywhere in the world.”
“Today, West Bengal is the most preferred IT destination in India. We have built Bengal Silicon Valley, replicating from the USA. In the 200 acres of land, there will be investments of Rs 27,000 crore, creating 75,000 jobs,” the chief minister said, adding that 28 IT companies have already started working and 40 others have taken lands.
CM Banerjee also spoke about how her government introduced policies related to broadband, data centre, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, fostering an ecosystem for the growth of the IT industry in the state.
She was seen instructing the government authorities to cooperate with Infosys at all levels to ensure that the company’s Kolkata runs peacefully and smoothly.
Minister of Information Technology and Electronics Babul Supriyo and economist Amit Mitra were among the dignitaries present at the event.