‘Bengal a lucrative investment destination’

Express News Service Posted online: Wed Dec 15 2010, 04:52 hrs

Kolkata: Assocham survey points to problem in land acquisition but says growth encouraging.

Many business and industrial projects may have hit roadblocks in Bengal but it seems that the chambers of industry have not lost confidence in the state. A survey conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has concluded that the Left Front-ruled state is the most lucrative destination for investments in the country.

West Bengal, the study stated, attracted a total investment proposal of Rs 5,77,904 crore till September, 2010. In the same period the country received investment proposals of Rs 1,04,93,601 crore.

Of the total investment proposals, 73 per cent has come from private sector and the remaining 27 per cent from government.

The state’s share of total investment undertaken by different governments in the country is 3.7 per cent and in terms of investments by the private sector, Bengal’s share is 6.7 per cent.

“West Bengal is a well established, matured economy. The trade off between equity and efficiency issues has affected growth of economy in the past. However, the state has the potential to achieve double digit growth rate by exploiting complementarities between its social and economic strengths,” said the new ASSOCHAM president, Dilip Modi.

The study also pointed out the problems of land acquisition that has hit many projects. It, however, added that despite such hurdles, Bengal’s position of being the sought after investment destination is an encouraging trend.

The survey stated that nearly 50 per cent of the investment proposals are in different stages of implementation and 48.3 percent of investments are in the announcement stage. Implementation of projects involving 1.5 per cent of total investment is stalled due to various reasons, the survey said. “It may be noted that owing to the prevalence of global recessionary trends and slow down of the Indian economy investments across states have been kept on hold. This explains that a major portion of the projects have not moved beyond the announcement stage,” the survey stated.

The survey also stated that there has been a balanced development of all the sectors of the economy.

This strategy is expected to help the state reduce dependency on agriculture, add value to primary sector products and augment sources of revenue for the state, it added.

WBIDC to hand over land to ITC for production base

2010-09-14

The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) would hand over 18 acres later this month to the cigarettes-to-hotel conglomerate ITC to set up an integrated food factory in the state.

'We will hand over 18 acres to ITC on September 25. The cost of land per acre was in tune of Rs.20 lakh,' Subrata Gupta, managing director, WBIDC, told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Ficci.

During the annual general meeting of ITC in July, chairman Y.C. Deveshwar told reporters that the company had not been able to get land to set up production base (factory) in the state for long.

The land is at Panchla village in Howrah on National Highway 6, 35 km from Kolkata. The unit is planned to manufacture snacks like Bingo.

Apollo may set up more hospitals in West Bengal

KOLKATA, 2nd Sept . 2010: Healthcare major Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd is in talks with Parkway Holdings of Singapore to set up more hospitals in West Bengal via their existing joint venture, a top official said here Thursday.

'Our agreement is for West Bengal only and we are looking at setting up more hospitals,' Apollo Hospitals managing director Preetha Reddy said on the sidelines of an event at the Institute of Company Secretaries.

The joint venture runs one hospital in India under Apollo Gleneagles brand in Kolkata.

Asked if Apollo has plans to expand the scope of joint venture with Parkway, Reddy said Apollo would remain a 'knowledge partner'.

Parkway is now owned by Khazanah, a soverign fund of Malaysia. Talking about the company's investment plans, she said it is pumping in Rs.1,800 crore in the next 24 months.

Vikram Solar to invest INR 500 crore in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Vikram Solar Pvt Ltd a part of the Vikram group of industries would invest INR 500 crore to manufacture wafer and photovoltaic cell at its plant in Falta SEZ in West Bengal.Mr HK Chaudhury chairman of Vikram group said that to start with, the company had already invested INR 100 crore to produce PV modules with a generation capacity of 25 MW. He added that "The capacity will be expanded to 50 MW by the middle of the next financial year.”He said that Vikram Solar GmBH in Germany had been supplying 1 MW of solar power to the grid in that country. The company is also in talks for setting up solar power projects in countries like Italy, Bulgaria and France. Currently, the plant employs around 100 persons and the number would go up to 800 once the expansion process is complete.(Sourced from PTI)

Bengal Aerotropolis project gets first tranche of land

KOLKATA, October 30, 2009: Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), which will be setting up the country’s first greenfield merchant airport near Durgapur in West Bengal, has got the first tranche of land of 533.5 acres.

The project, which had hit hurdles following objections raised by Coal India Ltd (CIL) over the issue of its coal deposits getting blocked by the proposed airport city, now expected to start construction by March 2010 and become operational by September 2011, Arvind Pande, Chairman, BAPL, said.

CIL sources said that the project size had been reworked to protect most of the licence areas of Eastern Coalfields Ltd., a subsidiary of CIL.

However, concerns regarding the project locking up coal deposits allotted to other companies remain. While coal deposits spread over 2.63 km was getting locked up now, keeping in mind the interest of only coal which is extractable in the near future, some amount has been sacrificed it was learnt. The 99-year lease agreement was signed between BAPL and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), a release said adding that the integrated project was spread over about 2,300 acres and the acquisition of remaining land was expected to be over in the next few months.

Changi Airports International has picked up 26 per cent equity in BAPL which is its first investment in India, the release said. Mr. Pande said the project had already received clearance from the Civil Aviation Ministry and had attained financial closure.

Wipro's Bengal project gets new site

KOLKATA,Oct 30 2009: Wipro has decided to come back to Kolkata at the alternative site offered by the state government, much to the relief of the West Bengal government. Wipro’s confirmation has come in less than a month time of West Bengal government scrapping the much-hyped IT Park project which was supposed to IT biggies Wipro and Infosys.

Wipro officials on Friday met the Managing Director, Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) and formally communicated their consent to take possession of the alternative land (50 acre) albeit at a concessional price. On September 7, West Bengal government had scrapped its much-hyped ‘Kolkata Link’, a modern IT infrastructure project, over a land scam. On September 17, FC reported that West Bengal government offered alternative lands to Wipro and Infosys. The alternative land is also at New Town, Rajarhat.

Wipro officials also met the state IT minister Debesh Das. “They told me that they would like to develop a world class state of the art facility at this parcel of land,” Das said. "The people of several walks of life indeed want to see WIPRO to expand and Infosys to step into the state. The decision of WIPRO to start its second campus in West Bengal is quite encouraging. As said by WIPRO, I believe that this facility will augment the employment opportunity of the state to a considerable extent and will boost up the economic activities in the state. It will pave the way for the young aspiring techies of the state to be employed in their own state after their studies," Das added.

The new plot, offered to Wipro is just 15 minutes drive from the airport and on the side of a 6-lane road. It is within a complete modern township with all facilities. It may be noted that in the vicinity of this area, about 300 acres of land has already been allotted for IT and IT infrastructure companies.West Bengal government has also offered alternative location to Infosys as well. However, there has been no official communication from Infosys in this regard so far.

West Bengal drops IT township project

KOLKATA,7th August,2009: The West Bengal government on Monday announced that it “cannot proceed” with the proposed joint sector Kolkata Link IT township project near Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas district following allegations of land grabbing and the recent arrest of managing director of a firm, which is a private partner.

This is a setback to the State’s plans to develop the IT sector.“The government does not want to be involved in any illegal activity. Thus the IT department cannot proceed with the project …,” a release said.

“Under the circumstance, we are unable to stick to our assurance of providing land to Wipro and Infosys.”Major IT companies had already sealed agreements with the State to set up facilities in the township. The project was to have come up on 1,200 acres.

FULL TEXT OF THE PRESS RELEASE:

Press release by Information Technology Department, Government of West Bengal

(Enclosure to 15(50)- JS(SB)/IT(O)/91/2007 dated 07.09.09)

Recently, all of us came across several conflicting news items about Kolkata Link IT township. Though IT Department do not like to comment on each and every news item, we believe that all these created a lot of confusions among the people, specially the actual stakeholders of this project including several IT companies and thousands of young aspirants who want to be employed in their own state after their studies.

To clear the confusion and to avoid any further confounding, IT department decided to provide the necessary information about this project in written form. That is why the IT department is releasing this press note. We believe that everyone should have the right to know about this township plan, its present status and its fate. To make it more visualized and to help the people to have more access to the information, IT department has decided to publish it in the website of IT department http://www.itwb.org/. Anybody who has any query about this press release can send the questions to ittownship@gmail.com or send them through fax to the number 22821944. It will be answered as quickly as possible in written form and we will also provide it in the website of the department. It may please be noted that the questions should relate to this press release only.

*********************************************************

1. Background

(i) Despite continuous efforts land could not be offered to some key IT companies who have been demanding the same since 2004-2005. This had been hindering the growth and depriving the state from realizing its full potential in this field. Three of the top five employers are TCS, Wipro and Infosys. All are expected to grow @ 12.15% per year in today’s tough times and @ 30% in the good times.

(ii) Reputed IT companies like Wipro, Infosys were very much interested to get the land at New Town Rajarhat. But the price of that land deterred them to take it.

(iii) In the middle of 2006 Infosys was shown land near vedic village by WBIDC. The state Government planned to make land available for Infosys and other IT companies near Vedic village by March 2007. But this land could not be acquired till date.

(iv) The State Government in general and IT department in particular were under tremendous pressure as the Government had failed successive dates for acquiring and handing over land to Infosys and other IT companies.

(v) Failing to get land in West Bengal several IT companies like Infosys, Zensar and Wipro started taking land and expanding their base in adjacent state, Orissa.

2. IT department’s initiative

To address this impasse, IT department explored all the available options: land acquisition, land purchase and public private partnership.

(i) IT department arranged Government land at Kalyani. This site did not become acceptable to the industries. We could succeed to arrange the visit of Wipro there, but they did not like to take it.

(ii) IT Department started acquiring land through Land and Land Reforms Department at Jagadishpur Mouza, which came under opposition. In September, 2008 the notice under section 4 was given which sparked off agitation. In May, 2009 the notice under section 6 was given. However, due to public agitation, it was stalled. IT department was offering a high price for acquisition – about Rs. 1.10 lakh per cottah (evidence shows that it was much higher than the market price).

(iii) When the Government failed to provide land and accommodate IT companies, a private company on its own initiative contacted Infosys and offered them land in the area close to Airport and Rajarhat New Town. Infosys visited the area a number of times and agreed to take the land and come here provided the Govt. was involved in the project. The company also engaged the renowned architect of the country, Hafeez Contractor, whose services are extensively used by Infosys also for their projects.

(iv) This private company, namely, M/S Akash Nirman Pvt. Ltd. offered a proposal to IT department for an IT township in this area. They gave an undertaking to assemble land for the development of this integrated IT Township. It proposed to hand over 50% of the land assembled free of cost to Government to allot land to IT companies. Towards this the company was willing to enter into a joint venture agreement with Webel for the creation of a joint sector company for the development of an integrated IT township complete with required social infrastructure like commercial complex, convention centre, housing, food court, hospitals, gymnasium, training centres etc. In lieu of sharing 50% of land with Webel/Government for allocation to IT companies, the Joint Venture partner expected Webel to take the responsibility of providing the road connectivity for this township as well as the other required physical infrastructure facilities like power, water supply, sewerage disposal, etc. at the doorstep of the proposed project area.

3. Cabinet Approval

With this background and taking into account the urgent requirement of land by some key IT companies (Wipro, Infosys, ITC Infotech, ICICI, etc) the IT Dept. prepared a Cabinet Memorandum for entering into this partnership for the establishment of this IT township.

The cabinet memo was submitted to Finance Department, which made some observations. All observations of the Finance Department were accepted by the IT Department including the condition that the expenditure to be incurred on infrastructure should not exceed the amount realized by providing land to IT companies. The memo was then placed before the Cabinet Standing Committee on Industry which approved the above proposal in its meeting on 28th February, 2008. The members present in this meeting were - the Chief Minister, C & I Minister, Finance Minister, MSME Minister and IT Minister. This was later mentioned and ratified by the full Cabinet in its meeting on 17th April, 2008.

4. The Proposed IT township and Vedic village resort are totally separate

As per the master plan the southernmost point of the township touches HIDCO area, which is about 7 kms away from Vedic Village where it ends. The proposed township does not include the Vedic Village Resort. However, the owner of Vedic Village Resort is one of the Directors of Akash Nirman Pvt. Ltd.

5. Land to Wipro and Infosys—

IT Dept. signed separate MOU on 03/04/08 with Wipro and Infosys to hand over 90 acres of land each to the two companies at the IT township. The representatives of Wipro, and Infosys along with IT Department met the Chief Minister on 24/04/08 to seal these agreements.

6. Nothing Concealed from Public/ No Clandestine

In a joint press conference of IT Department, Wipro and Infosys on 24th April, 2008 all details of the township project were spelt out openly before the press. At no stage did the IT Department try to hide it from the public. All the news agencies carried it as the lead story on 25th April, 2008. Besides, it was reported in detail several times in the leading newspapers (Ananda Bazar Patrika 08/06/08, Times of India on 04/03/08). It was also articulated in the Annual Report of the IT Department and the budget speech of IT minister. The project is thus well known.

7. A Joint Sector Company was formed

As per cabinet approval, the Joint Sector company namely “WEBEL Akash IT links Pvt, Ltd.” was formed on 26/09/08.4

8. Involvement of other Departments to facilitate the Project

(i) Housing Department: IT Minister wrote to Housing Minister on 29th May and 24th September 2008 and the Principal Secretary, IT wrote to MD, HIDCO on 13/06/08 informing about project and seeking road connectivity and access to HIDCO area. HIDCO in its letter dated 4th July 2008 to the IT Department agreed to provide the access road connecting the said township with HIDCO and asked IT Department to bear the cost for this connectivity.

(ii) Land and Land Reforms Department: Letters were issued by the IT Department to Land and Land Reforms department on 04/05/08, 05/08/08, 25/08/08, 27/08/08, 22/09/08, 26/09/08, 17/12/08, and 22/12/08 asking for the required clearances. The L&LR Department issued an order on 11/12/08 allowing the Joint Sector company and its constituents to hold land in excess of ceiling limit.

(iii) Urban Development Department: The IT Department wrote to the UD Department on 04/07/08, 19/08/08, 27/08/08, 24/09/08, and17/10/08 asking for the required clearances and notification. The UD Department issued the notification on 17/11/08 declaring the Project Area as a Planning Area under the Town and Country Planning Act along with the constitution of a Planning Authority. The UD Department again issued a letter on 03/12/08 concerning the Planning Area. The Planning Authority constituted includes representatives from the IT Department, the UD Department, KMDA, District Administration—North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Finance Department. The first meeting of this Authority was held on 27/05/09.

(iv) PW Department: Letters were issued by IT Department on 27/08/08 and12/11/08. PWD was requested to strengthen and widen the existing road of 211 Bus route which connects the township.

(v) Irrigation and Waterways Department: Letters were issued on 4/7/08 and 12/11/08. Officials of this Department surveyed the area for the sewerage canal and connectivity of this township.

(vi) Power Department: Meetings were held with official of Power Department to meet the power requirement of the township.

(vii) Chief Secretary’s Review meetings with concerned Departments:Meetings were held under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary on 26/5/2008, 13/8/2008, and 22/10/2008 where the progress of this Project was reviewed. In the meetings the officials of the concerned Departments including Housing, Urban Development, Land and Land Reforms, PWD, Power, Irrigation and Waterways, District Administration of North and South 24 Pgs were invited.

9. Another Cabinet Approval

UD Department mentioned its Notifications of Planning Area concerning the said project in the Cabinet meeting on 27/01/09 and got it ratified.

10. The present position

(i) IT Department has or had no connection or role in purchasing process. Moreover, the Department had no whiff of any forcible purchase.

(ii) In May 2009, IT Department got a list of 90 acres of land from the private partner that could be given to IT companies. Immediately on 27/05/09, WEBEL provided the details of the 90 acres of land to Infosys. Infosys informed IT Department that though they were keen to take the land, they preferred to go slow at present in view of the global economic slowdown.

(iii) An understanding was reached with Wipro to provide them 50 acres of land to them. The land is ready. The IT Department is looking into the details of this land (whether it is contiguous, whether it has valid registration, mutation etc.).

(iv) No land has been transferred till date to either WEBEL or the joint sector company Webel Akash IT Links Pvt. Ltd.

11. The effects of recent incident surrounding Vedic Village

(i) In a recent incident, the Managing Director of the Private Partner has been arrested by the police;

(ii) The Government does not want to be involved in any illegal activity;

(iii) Already, some Departments have opined to scrap the project;

(iv) It is also impossible for IT Department to proceed with the project, if any of the six Departments mentioned in section 8 refuses to facilitate;

(v) Thus IT Department cannot proceed with the project; and

(vi) Under the circumstances, at this moment we are unable to stick to our assurances of providing land to Wipro and Infosys and thereby constrained to inform them about the Government’s inability.

MP Birla group to go for major expansion of healthcare venture

KOLKATA, JUNE 23: The MP Birla group has decided to go for a major expansion of its healthcare venture. The group, which runs reputed hospitals like BelleVue Clinic in Kolkata and Bombay Hospital in Mumbai, has decided to set up three new multi-speciality hospitals — one in Kolkata and two each in Rajasthan. The group is now finalising the investment outlay. For starters, the group is scouting for 5-to-6 acres in Rajarhat for the Kolkata facility which will have more than 200 beds. While it has sought land in Rajarhat from the West Bengal government, the group is also exploring options to acquire land on its own. "The Kolkata hospital will provide world-class healthcare to patients from the economically weaker sections of society. The cost of the service will be priced accordingly," said Harsh Vardhan Lodha, trustee and member of the managing committee of Belle Vue Clinic and son of the erstwhile MP Birla Group chairman Late R. S. Lodha. On the other hand, the two proposed hospitals in Rajasthan will come up in Jaipur and Chittorgarh. The group has already acquired seven acres in Jaipur from the Rajasthan government. "The Jaipur hospital will have more than 300 beds. On an average, we will invest around Rs 10-15 lakh per bed for these facilities," said Mr Lodha. The MP Birla group also operates a speciality eye care venture in Kolkata, Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital, Bombay Hospital in Indore, and M.P. Birla Vikas Hospital and Priyamvada Birla Cancer Research Institute, both in Satna. It plans to expand the Belle Vue Clinic by increasing number of beds and foraying into newer specialities. "We are adding 60 new beds by setting up a mother and child care department comprising maternity unit and a neonatal intensive care unit. This apart, there will be a 26-bed invasive cardiac unit with provision for Cath Lab and a dedicated cardiac operation theatre. The total investment on this expansion will be around Rs 20 crore," said Mr Lodha.

PepsiCo India to make Bengal unit the largest in India

KOLKATA, JUNE 22: At a time when West Bengal government’s industrialisation drive has suffered a major jolt, PepsiCo India is poised to make its Frito-Lay manufacturing unit in the state its largest in the country by 2011-12. PepsiCo India has acquired an extra 4 acres near its existing factory in the state to ramp up production of Frito-Lay -- the food division of the company. Talking to newsmen Mr Animesh Banerjee, vice -president (operations) at PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd (Frito-Lay division), said: "The West Bengal facility will emerge as the largest factory by calender 2011. The factory’s capacity will increase from 25,000 tonne per annum to 50,000 tonne per annum by 2011-12. However, the expansion plan will largely hinge on the demand curve in the next two years." Incidentally, apart from West Bengal, Frito-Lay has manufacturing facilities at Channo in Punjab and Ranjangaon in Pune. PepsiCo India had initially invested Rs 140 crore in its West Bengal facility, which is located at Sankrail Food Park. "In addition, the company will invest another Rs 110 crore in a phased manner to enhance the factory’s capacity," Mr Banerjee said. The unit produces two of its major brands - Frito Lay and Kurkure. Frito-Lay uses around 1.5 lakh tonnes of potatoes per annum for its products, 50% of which comes from contract farming. PepsiCo has partnered with more than 10,000 farmers working in over 12,000 acres across Punjab, UP, Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Kashmir and Maharashtra for the supply of potatoes. The company aims to collaborate with 25,000 farmers in next five years time for procuring potatoes. Frito-Lay India on Monday launched a new brand Aliva in the baked savoury cracker category. "It is being manufactured at our Ranjangaon facility. With the launch of Aliva, the company aims to create a new sub-segment of great tasting savoury crackers in the greater than 1500 tonne biscuit category. Our aim is to make Aliva much bigger than Kurkure," said Mr Vidur Vyas, executive vice-president (marketing), Frito-Lay India.

Infosys drops West Bengal project

KOLKATA, JUNE 07, 2009: As far as Infosys goes, the West Bengal story is as good as over. Neither has the state government shown any interest in pursuing Infosys, not does the company see any urgent business need to begin operations there. In 2004 Infosys had planned to invest Rs 500 crore in setting up a development centre, seating 5,000 people, in Kolkata.

Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan told Financial Chronicle that the company was forced to have a “relook” at its plans in West Bengal. It had sought up to 100 acres of land, but it was not satisfied with the plot offered.A couple of months ago, West Bengal’s minister for information technology and biotechnology, Debesh Das, had told reporters in Bangalore that his government was planning to provide land to Infosys this year.“There seems to be no communication on this. So we have decided to put the project on the backburner,” said Gopalakrishnan.“The new economic environment is not conducive to any expansion. So that’s a consideration as well,” he said. “Instead, we plan to focus on ongoing expansion at Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad.” Infosys plans to add 20,756 seats this year to take the total to 1,15,000.

Infosys is facing problems also in the Sarjapur project in Bangalore. The company has tied up about 300 acres “but land conversion has not taken place yet,” Gopalakrishnan said. The project has been on the drawing board since 2000 when Infosys had asked the Karnataka government for 845 acres. This was refused. Three subsequent requests were approved but the project has not moved an inch since controversies arose after former prime minister Deve Gowda questioned the company’s land acquisition motives.

Bengal Shristi to invest Rs 5,000 cr in tier II, III cities

KOLKATA, JUNE 3, 2009: Kolkata-based Bengal Shristi Infrastructure Development plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore in developing integrated properties in a number of tier II and tier III cities across West Bengal. Buoyed by the prospects of business activities in these areas, the company would develop more than one million sq ft of commercial spaces in places such as Durgapur, Asansol, Ranigunj, Krishnanagar and Haldia over the next couple of years.

“A number of banks, IT & ITeS, telecom and finance companies have lined up expansion plans in these cities, due to rentals, which are as low as one-third or even less than that in metro cities. If these companies get the right kind of infrastructure, which is comparable to that of bigger cities but at the same time cheaper, it would make business sense for them,” Hemant Kanoria, director of Bengal Shristi told FC Estate.

Bengal Shristi’s integrated properties are coming up in Durgapur, Asansol, Krishnanagar, Ranigunj and Haldia. Among the companies that are moving in or are likely to move in include HDFC Bank, SBI, Tata Teleservices, Reliance Webworld, ICICI Home Finance, LIC Home Finance, Apeejay Finance, Dishnet Wireless, Aircel, Reliance Petro, Canon, India Bulls, Sahara Home Finance and Motorola.

“The advantages are manifold. These companies want to expand and know there is a huge market beyond metro cities. Besides, they are also under tremendous cost pressures. In the integrated properties that we plan to develop, these companies would get developed commercial spaces with many amenities, where rentals are reasonable, apartments in the same complex where their employees and officials can stay, shopping and entertainment and club facilities within the same premises. The companies can ask their people to migrate to tier II and tier III cities where the cost of living is lower, travel time to workplace is much less and the happiness index in higher. So it makes business sense,” Kanoria explained.

Mayank Saksena, associate director of real estate consultancy company, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, also subscribes to Kanoria’s views. “There has been lot of movements towards tier II and tier III cities in the commercial space, ever since the slowdown broke out last October. A number of BPOs and KPOs are moving to cities such as Bhubaneswar. And this trend will continue in the years to come,” Saksena said.

Kanoria said that a number of companies have approached them, looking for modern infrastructure to set up disaster management centres and back offices in smaller cities. “In our Durgapur property, for instance, those companies, which bought commercial spaces also bought the residential apartments in the premises. This is a test case and an indication of the way things are moving,” Kanoria pointed out.

DLF to scrap Rs 700-cr IT project at Rajarhat

KOLKATA, 3 Jun 2009: DLF has decided to scrap its Rs 700-crore IT SEZ at Rajarhat, putting paid to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's dreams of 40,000 jobs and hopes of boosting the state's sunrise sector. The decision comes just four months after DLF, India's largest property developer, cancelled the Rs 40,000-crore Dankuni township project. 

DLF has asked the Centre to free the 25 acres on which the IT project was to come up of SEZ status. This means that the firm wants the tax holidays given to SEZ projects revoked so that it can develop the land as realty. 

While the reason for scrapping the Dankuni Township was land (or lack of it), the logic behind opting out of the IT SEZ was the lack of IT investors in Bengal. Industry department sources said the Board of Approval (BoA) in the ministry of commerce and industries will communicate its denotification message to DLF by the end of this week. A DLF spokesperson said, "We shall get to know about it in two or three days." 

If the industries ministry, which approves SEZ projects, allows the derecognition, the land can be used for other purposes provided that no construction work has started on the site. 

Riding high on the Brand Buddha surge in 2007, DLF had announced it would develop a state-of-the-art, world-class facility offering 2.5 million square feet of IT/ITeS workspace. "Not many IT investors have been coming to West Bengal for the last two years." He was dropping big hints on the Singur and Nandigram effect on the investment scenario in West Bengal. Adding to the state's woes is the global meltdown which has put a full stop on the investment front completely. 

State IT minister Debesh Das, however, attributed DLF's decision to global meltdown. "Anyway, stripping the IT park of SEZ status will come as a boon to the company because they can now concentrate on getting domestic IT clients instead of those who are involved in IT exports, which is a major requirement for SEZs." 

Incidentally, India's largest property developer has also sought denotification of four IT SEZs planned in Sonepat and Gandhinagar. The reason cited was the economic slowdown and lack of demand for IT space. 

But Kolkata's reasons have been more than the current slowdown. An IT department official said, "DLF has not been able to pull enough clients for the already existing IT park project at Rajarhat." The official added, "The company had a lot of confidence in the state then. It wanted to be a part of the new IT Corridor at Rajarhat's New Town." 

The IT SEZ had offered developed workspace clubbed with serviced apartments, retail and recreational. It would have been designed by renowned architects to create ready-built IT workspace offering unmatched scalable advantages. Developed in phases, the IT SEZ would have been functional by this year. 

Riverbank Developers, IHG to set up hotel in Batanagar

MUMBAI:Riverbank Developers has signed on Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) to run the proposed hotel and serviced apartment facility at its Batanagar township project in West Bengal. As part of the initial 15 year deal between Riverbank and IHG, the hotel at Batanagar will be branded under the Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts brand and will have 200 rooms and 75 apartments. Bata India plans to fast track the completion of Batanagar Township project worth Rs 1300 crore. The township project being developed on 262 acre is promoted by Riverbank Developers, a 50:50 JV between Bata India and Calcutta Metropolitan Group. While the Phase I of the project is slated to be completed in 2011, the whole township is expected to be completed by 2013.

Rs 1000 cr Health city in Bardhaman, will require 8000

New Delhi, May 21st, 2009: FAITH Healthcare Private Limited, one of India’s first private Human Development consulting companies has announced the launch of an Rs.1000 crore Health City Project at Bardhaman, West Bengal.

FAITH Healthcare, which has been actively involved in delivering human development projects working in partnership many global developmental organizations, has entered into a Public Private Partnership with the Bardhaman Development Authority in association with Bengal CES Infratech Pvt. Ltd. to develop the world class Health City at Bardhaman.

The project once completed is expected to generate approximately 8 million man-days of work during the execution phase over the next 5 years and provide direct employment to around 1400 people for operation and maintenance of the Health City. Once completed the Health City would require around 8000 professionals including doctors, health specialists, nurses paramedics and other support staff.

The Health City will comprise a state-of-the-art 500 bed specialty hospital, Center of Excellence for various Super Specialties, , Pharmacy, Telehealth Institute, Rehabilitation center, Medical college, Mother and Child health center hostels for staff & students, convenience stores, recreational facilities and other civic amenities.

Prof. S. S. Chakraborty, Chairman, FAITH Healthcare Private Limited said “We will march ahead with faith and commitment to Human Development through our initiatives…”.

Tatas dump steel project

Kolkata, May 19: Tata Metaliks Ltd has brought down the curtain on its proposed steel plant in Bengal.The Calcutta-headquartered company, which operates a large pig iron plant in Kharagpur, today formally informed the state government about its decision. Just  two  months ago, the company had announced its desire to scrap the Rs 1,000-crore mini steel plant project. But the Bengal government prevailed upon it to reconsider the decision. The company board met on May 7 where the issue was taken up once again for discussion.The management was so far tight-lipped about the decision taken at the meeting. “We will formally inform the government in the next few days,” managing director Harsh K. Jha had said after the meeting. However, the state government received the quit letter only today, almost two weeks after the meeting but only three days after the results of the Lok Sabha polls. Bengal’s Left Front suffered a humiliating defeat in this year’s election, signalling a change in the state’s political landscape. Left parties are also out of the reckoning at the Centre, losing the bargaining power it enjoyed during the better part of the UPA regime between 2004 and 2009. During that period many steel companies had promised large investments in Bengal, but Tata Metaliks was the first to do so.It had sought 500 acres adjacent to its pig iron and ductile iron pipe plant in Kharagpur in early 2005. The state government was ready to offer 350 acres, to which the company agreed.However, the government could acquire only 192 acres so far. In the meantime, land prices have gone up from Rs 4 lakh an acre in 2005 to Rs 8-9 lakh now. Tata Metaliks had reservations on that. The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, a shareholder in Tata Metaliks having a board representation, was entrusted with the job to acquire land for many other big industrial projects.The company might have stuck to its decision to quit as it feared the state government would not be able to deliver the land in the near future. Government sources had earlier indicated that the company was shelving the project as the steel sector had turned bearish following the global economic slowdown.Steel prices have crashed from a high of $1,250 a tonne to $450 a tonne now, taking a toll on several expansion projects. Tata Metaliks is now pursuing a similar project on a larger scale in Karnataka.The state has identified 900 acres, some 300 km from Bangalore in the iron-ore rich Bellary-Hospet region.

TEXMACO, UNITED GROUP TIE UP TO MAKE HI-TECH WAGONS

Kolkata, May 19: Texmaco Ltd, a KK Birla group company, has formed a joint venture with United Group of Australia to manufacture hi-tech wagon and locomotive bogie frames, it was announced here Tuesday. 'A joint venture company with United Group, one of Asia's leading end-to-end rail technology solutions provider, has been incorporated, and steps are being discussed to set up a modern facility to make hi-tech wagon and locomotive bogie frames for Indian Railways, the private industry and exports,' Texmaco said in a statement. The two companies had joined hands in 2007 for a 50:50 joint venture to form the biggest railway hub in West Bengal. Texmaco has entered into tie-ups with several multi-nationals to exploit the business opportunities offered by Indian Railways, which has made a Rs.230,000-crore expansion plan in the 11th Five-Year plan. 'The current order book of the company stands at around Rs.1300 crore, which would enable it to maintain smooth production during the current year. It would stand to be further augmented by the Railway orders under planning for 2009-10,' the release said. The company's turnover was up 16 percent to Rs.1,091.25 crore for the fiscal ended Mar 31, 2009 as against Rs.943.52 crore the previous year. Texmaco's net profit rose 10 percent to Rs.75.84 crore last fiscal from Rs.69.09 crore in 2007-08. The performance of the company was to some extent impacted due to deceleration exports, the release said.

Ural India for a small car from Haldia in 2009

KOLKATA: Ural India Ltd, an Indo-Russian joint venture, is keen in building small cars at Haldia in West Bengal during this year and would also be conducting road shows to evaluate feedback from its prospective customers, reports The Times of India. TOI has also added that JV company would be producing two small cars by assembling parts at their Haldia factory for the road shows. The tyres, gears and engine would be produced locally, though the mould and metal sheet will be imported. The small car is estimated to cost around Rs 1.6 lakh, though no official announcement has been made by the company, where the West Bengal state government holds an 11 per cent stake. The company is planning to launch both AC and non-AC models and there would be options for switching over to LPG models as well. However, it could not be ascertained, whether the Kolkata-based company would seek any inputs or tie-up with the Chinese auto giant, FAW Corporation.

It may be recalled that First Auto Work (FAW), have reportedly signed a Memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 7th November'08, to set up a small car and bus manufacturing facility in West Bengal. The amount earmarked for the proposed JV is Rs. 1,500 crore and the price of the entry-level low-cost is estimated to be around Rs. 1.6 lakh. It is widely believed the JV will initially be rolling out the small car, followed by trucks, buses and minibuses. Sources on condition of anonymity have revealed that the proposed project would take at least 18 months to begin production. The Chinese public sector automobile company is eyeing to set up the unit either at Singur, or at Haldia, adjacent to Ural's existing truck assembling unit. Currently, the officials of FAW are hobnobbing with the West Bengal government officials and are reportedly seeking approximately 600 acres of land.

Emami to invest Rs 2,200 cr in Bengal paper plant

Kolkata: The Rs 2,000-crore Emami Group is planning to invest Rs 2,200 crore for setting up a high-end writing and printing paper manufacturing plant at Kultikri in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

The 200,000-tonne-a-year unit, to be developed by group company Emami Paper Mills Limited, would be completed within three and a half years from zero date, according to Mr P.S. Patwari, Executive Director of the company. The 1,415 acres required to set up the plant would be acquired within a year, he said.

Emami Paper Mills signed a memorandum of agreement here on Friday with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for implementing the project. The State Government would provide nearly a half of the required land (vested land of nearly 700 acres), while Emami has to acquire the rest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said after the agreement signing ceremony. All land to be acquired in the area is barren, Mr R.S. Agarwal, Joint Chairman of Emami Group, said.

“The paper mill project, one of the biggest in India, is expected to generate substantial employment,” the Chief Minister said. Nearly 8,000 people will be directly or indirectly employed in the project, West Bengal Industrial Secretary Mr Sabyasachi Sen told presspersons on the sidelines of the programme.

The Irrigation Department has agreed to supply water from the Subarnarekha, he said, while pointing out that the used water will be released into the river after recycling through canals. The plant would consume nearly 75,000 cubic metre of water daily while its coal intake would be two lakh tonnes a year. The wood pulp required as raw material would be supplied by the West Bengal Forest Department.

April 9 date for FAW team visit

KOLKATA: The Nano dream is buried. But hope still flickers in Singur. With Tata Motors pulling out of Bengal, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is gearing up for a meeting with a delegation from the Chinese automobile major, First Automobile Works (FAW). The team will arrive in the city on April 9.

The five-member FAW delegation's visit to the city is actually a follow-up exercise. In November last year, a team of company officials met the chief minister. FAW has already signed an agreement with Ural India, an Indo-Russian joint venture company, in which the WBIDC has 11% stake. Last week, state commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen had been to the FAW car factory in China and inspected the truck assembly line. Sen also held talks with FAW officials over their investment opportunities in Bengal, particularly in the small car, bus and truck segment.

The proposed small car (with engine capacity of 700 cc to 800 cc) would cost between Rs 1.6 lakh and 2 lakh. On Thursday, Ural India's chairman J K Saraf will meet the chief minister to do the groundwork for the proposed meet with FAW top brass. FAW officials are likely to visit the abandoned Nano compound in Singur next week. The CM does not want to miss the opportunity this time. In fact, the commerce and industries secretary is likely to submit a detailed report on the FAW assembly line so that the government can explore the possibility of setting up such a facility in Singur.

For, the FAW team is not interested in alternative sites at Kharagpur and Kalyani. The official said that FAW was also keen on setting up a plant in Haldia, close to the Ural factory, which is now manufacturing trucks and other heavy vehicles for the army and police, along with dumpers. Ural director Aniruddh Kanoi, who had been to China to meet FAW officials, said they are willing to go for truck, bus and small car factories in Bengal. "If the plot is big enough, bus, truck and small car can be produced from the same place."

The company has already had similar offers from other states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana. "The proposed support from the end of the Bengal government can only help us to decide the destination," Kanoi said. FAW is ready to invest Rs 1,500 crore for their auto factory.

FDI inflow from NRIs steady despite recession

NEW DELHI: Global recession had no impact on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from Indians abroad as it has registered a rise in the current fiscal, the Lok Sabha was informed. Highlighting investment figures from the states, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said: "There has been no decline in investment due to global recession during 2008 as compared to 2007." Goa and West Bengal figured as the highest investment attracting states with the former receiving Rs 30 crore and the latter Rs 20.3 crore in FDIs.

NRIs, Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCB) accounted for FDIs and Foreign Technology Cases (FTC) worth Rs 70 crore during January to September 2008 in comparison to Rs 65.8 crore for the period January to December 2007, Ravi told the Lok Sabha.