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"There has been a transformation of Kolkata’s image among French investors. We are also keen to expand cooperation between universities in France and Kolkata. For this, we will seek opportunities with Jadavpur University for student exchange programmes."
- Mr. Jerome Bonnafont, French Ambassador in India
Education Worldwide India - Kolkata
Venue: Swabhumi Exhibition Hall, Kolkata
Date: 26th & 27th April, 2008
Website: www.eduworldwideindia.com
The Pilot Project in Burdwan District to provide 2 Mbps connectivity to all the 6 Sub Divisions, 31 Blocks and 277 Gram Panchayats was inaugurated on 7th February, 2008 by the Hon’ble Chief Minister by way of holding a Video Conference with the District Headquarters, Blocks and Gram Panchayats. The Hon’ble Chief Minister interacted directly with Gram Panchayats and enquired about the development of the projects. The Video Conferencing was conducted with the help of a software which was locally developed in Kolkata by M/s. Rebaca Technologies Pvt. Ltd. under the direct supervision and guidance of Dr. Debesh Das, Minister-in-Charge, Department of Information Technology. This unique arrangement of Video Conferencing through the software not only saves huge costs in terms of hardware but the net result was also much more effective and interactive. The District Administration has since been using the facility very frequently and effectively in discharging its functions and facilitating the district administration. This backbone of connectivity will be used for providing G2G G2C and B2C services to the citizens at their doorsteps in the rural areas. Depending on the utility and usage of the system the same model will be rolled out in other districts in near future.
More than 20,000 new IT jobs will be created in Kolkata in next 12 months. While the prospective new entrants like Zensar Technologies, Accenture and Convergys India are expected to start within this year, existing IT majors like TCS, IBM, Cognizant, PwC, Capgemini, Wipro, Genpact have lined up large investments in setting up new operations in Kolkata. HCL has acquired land and the center will be up and running by the end of this year with 1000 people. Cognizant Technologies is setting up new facility on a 20 acre plot at Bantala SEZ and Genpact is adding 7 lakh sq. ft. exclusive built-up space in Unitech SEZ at Rajarhat. TCS is building their own SEZ facility on 40 acres land in Rajarhat, Wipro BPO has large expansion plan, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) expects to double their headcounts, Capgemini Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., the company had seen 70% growth in Kolkata in the current year, has taken huge space in DLF SEZ at Rajarhat and IBM is looking for big expansion in Kolkata.
Kolkata has overtaken Delhi and Haryana to become the No. 5 destination for IT investment in the country. Indian Chamber of Commerce has found this in their recent studies. It was also revealed that Kolkata overtook Hyderabad and Chennai in lifestyle and standard of living index.
Software Technology Park, Kolkata recorded 39% increase in export turnover during the first nine months of this fiscal. As usual TCS, IBM, Cognizant, HSBS Electronics Data Processing and Tech Mahindra are the first five biggest contributors followed by Genpact. Wipro’s inclusion in the list would make the growth much healthier as its SEZ recorded almost 100% growth during this period. All these companies are undergoing huge expansion program in the city and gearing up to multiply IT export during the next fiscal year.
Reliance Industry is keen to invest in Bengal through different large projects which include bringing gas to Bengal by 2011. This is considered to be a significant decision after the small car plant in Singur by Tata Group. Bengal is also the focal point for Hinduja Group which is planning to pump in big money on a medical city near Kolkata besides the proposed Chemical Hub in Nayachar. The medicity near Kolkata will be located on a 15 acres land. The Group is also interested in a Green field super specialty hospital and acquiring a few existing hospitals and run them on a PPP model.
Acording to Dr. Debash Das, Minister (IT) Bengal has ample scope for growth in hardware and consumer electronics industry. The state has a rural market size of Rs 20,000 crore and the rural Bengal has decent living conditions and purchasing power for consumer electronics. With the small car “Nano” rolling out from Tata Motors in Bengal it will provide a boost to small and medium players in the electronics industry. The state is also planning an advanced IT Park at Kharagpur for hardware manufacturing facility.
The State is planning to establish a dedicated Wireless Hub in Rajarhat. The IT Department is in touch with Alcatel Lucent for the Wireless Hub. Meanwhile The US based Astonfield Group has announced a foreign direct investment of Rs 400 crore to bring rural telephony and WiMAX infrastructure in the state. Tata Communications is also introducing it’s latest wireless broadband services, WiMAX in the city. Kolkata is among the top few cities where Tata Communication will make this service commercially available to customers at home by March 2009. The company is undergoing critical transformations to provide global communications and technology solutions to it’s enterprise customers.
Kolkata is going to have two more top end B-schools soon by Birlas and Goenkas, opening more opportunities to aspirants for acquiring managerial skills. In a city program organized by IIM-C and Indus Entrepreneur, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Govt. of West Bengal made this announcement when he also declared the state’s plan to revamp and expand vocational education in schools and technical education in the state’s poly-techniques and industrial institutes. This is required in view of colossal investments flowing into the state in almost all sectors which will call for huge manpower requirement.
By 2010 there will be at least 10 LEED-accredited green buildings in Kolkata. Demand for quality premises such as green buildings is increasingly high in the city. Most of the buildings which are under construction and will be ready by 2010 will have international building standard accreditation to match the demand and desirability of IT companies. Hence it may be mentioned that the first fully green IT building in the country, “Technopolis” was inaugurated in Kolkata in September 2006.
Indo-French bilateral trade will take a new dimension with France planning to expand ties with West Bengal. While the VISA office, economic mission cultural and education wing will be up and functioning very soon, Kolkata will also have direct air connectivity with France with Air-France starting a feasibility study for direct flight between Kolkata and Paris. French companies are keen to invest in the state across multiple areas including information technology. France has also shown interest in education and student exchange program between universities.
IT NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2008
