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"Kolkata has an unparalleled talent pool in the country. The Government here is also very proactive and supportive. All these made us decide to set up a new BPO facility in Kolkata. The work at the new BPO unit will start shortly."
- Pramod Bhasin, Genpact CEO & President
REALTY EXPO 2008
Exhibition
Venue: Science City
Date: Feb 27th - Mar 2nd, 2008
Conference
Venue: ITC Sonar Bangla
Date: 27th -28th February, 2008
Website: www.realtyexpo.in
Dr Debesh Das, the Minister in Charge Department of Information Technology (IT), Government of West Bengal led a delegation to UK, France and Germany from 22nd January to 29th January 2008. Shri Siddharth, Principal Secretary Dept of IT and Mr. Debanjan Dutta MD WEBEL accompanied the Minister. The main objective of the Mission was to participate in an investment seminar jointly organized by WEBEL and Cannacord Adams, a venture capital fund in London on 22nd January '08. About fifty IT and VC companies attended the Seminar. What Bengal has to offer was effectively presented in the two panel discussions and key note address delivered by the Minister. Senior executives from companies like Capgemini and Aviscere strongly advocated the case of West Bengal appreciating the industry environment in the state. The delegation next went to Paris on the invitation of Alcatel Lucent and Capgemini. The meetings with these two companies were very informative and fruitful for both sides. At Alcatel Lucent the delegation visited their state of the art Laboratory and got first hand information of the work the company is doing in the field of WIMAX. They appeared quite interested in Kolkata on learning about the plans the IT department has for developing a wireless hub in the city and how some leading international companies like WIP have already chosen Kolkata for R&D in this field. Potential collaboration in this field with the company will be further explored. At Capgemini the top brass of the company greatly admired the performance of their Kolkata operations. It was also informed that the company had reached their fastest 500 head count in Kolkata and that the team in Kolkata is working on cutting edge telecom projects with great plans for future expansion. The next stop of the delegation was Munich on the invitation of the Bavarian government. This was more like a return visit as a delegation from their government had recently visited Kolkata and had greatly appreciated the business friendly environment and the strength of IT industry in the State. The delegation held discussions with the senior officials of the department of Economy and IT. In Berlin the delegation held talks with the Chief Information Officer concerning the use of open source platform in government. The German government has taken a big initiative in this regard, and some of their departments like the foreign office, are now operating 100% on open source platform. The German side appreciated the policy initiatives being taken by the government of west Bengal concerning the open source platform and showed keen interest for collaboration in this field.
In order to enhance the capabilities and orientation of students towards the growing IT industry, Cognizant Technology Solutions-Kolkata has entered into an agreement with engineering colleges in the state, in an effort to make students compatible with the industry. Cognizant has chalked out programs such as sponsoring technical symposium, cultural events, conducting student workshops/guest lectures, extending the expertise of subject specialists to act as visiting faculty and conduct faculty development workshops. The company also instituted awards and recognition for the Best Outgoing Student, the Best Academic Performer and the Best Faculty. To start with, the company has signed MoU with Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College and St. Thomas college of Engineering and Technology.
Bengal Engineering and Science University, popularly known as Shibpur B.E College has got the status of Institute of National Importance recently. The college will get a grant of 450 crore from the union Ministry of Human Resource Development to upgrade the institute. The institute will now be known as Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) under the administrative control of MHRD, like IITs. The college will be fully funded Central Government institute from the academic session 2007-08 and the admission will be through the All India Engineering Entrance System.
Kolkata features in one of the four development centers by Tech Reliance, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Company entering into IT space. The company said that the move is aimed at deriving synergies from in-house IT strength the Group has in companies like Reliance Communications, Reliance Energy and in financial services and entertainments. The company already has 1500 employees dedicated to IT. Tech- Reliance plans to be in IT space like consultancy, infrastructure management, application development and management and certain other services.
About 4000 students from 112 institutes around the world which include the top Indian Business Schools including six IIMs and 35 international institutes participated in the Business fest called Intaglio. The Business fest is held at IIM Calcutta. Speaking in the fest Principal Secretary IT outlined the present status of IT outsourcing and software exports from India, Indian IT environment and the need for quality and information security. He also spoke on the need for a system for fostering talent and innovation to ensure the continued growth. He also briefly touched upon the achievements of West Bengal in this sector.
Kolkata will get a world class IT University with faculties drawn from top experts in Indian and Foreign pools very soon. The State Government has allotted 15 acres plot on E M Bypass to create this educational facility in collaboration with some of the best foreign institutions which will impart teachings in Information Technology, Science, Engineering and Molecular Biology. Dr. Moni Bhaumik Education Foundation is set to bring this University of Excellence for outstanding students and also free education for highly meritorious but underprivileged students from rural Bengal. The fully residential University will have comprehensive research facilities, exchange program for faculty and students in Europe and US. The campus will have a large auditorium, a well equipped library, modern recreational and sports facilities and a hotel for visiting professors and parents.
Following many domestic and foreign venture capital funds, the leading venture capitalist Intel Capital, the subsidiary of semiconductor giant Intel, has now set it’s eyes on West Bengal. Intel Capital had so far invested US $ 6000 million in more than 1000 companies worldwide. This is the first time Intel Capital is investing in a local company in Bengal called Intrasoft Technology. The venture capital company also do match making between the new companies and the leading companies where their fund has been invested. The company observed that the available talent and the right business plans influenced their decision to look at Kolkata.
ASSOCHAM report placed Bengal in the highest position in the country with a total investment proposal of Rs 1,27,302 crore during the third quarter of the fiscal year. The state is expecting to become No. 2 among states in attracting investments. With a favorable investment climate in the state both SAIL and L&T Power Development announced investment of Rs 20,000 each.
BPO and call center major Genpact, already operating on a big scale in the city, is set for a fresh investment of Rs 200 crore in Kolkata. The new outfit will come at New-Town, Rajarhat IT Corridor with a 7 lakh sq. ft. built-up Info-space. The new unit will generate 7000 direct employment and will handle BPO jobs like finance, analytics and supply-chain management. The availability of talent and proactive government support has made the company to decide on the expansion plan in Kolkata.
A “Bengal Center”, the first of it’s kind State Trade and Investment Office is set up in Germany in order to synergize Bengal and Germany in Engineering and IT. The Bengal center is located in Munich and can become the gateway to Eastern Europe for Bengal. This center will help promoting trade ties which is expected to increase substantially. The cluster approach of the Bavarian Government will be of special interest to Bengali entrepreneurs.
IT NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2008
