West Bengal Government to Set Up IT Hub in Kolkata

Kolkata: West Bengal government will set up an IT hub with private partnership in the south-east suburb of Behala in the metropolis, state Industries and IT Minister Partha Chatterjee said here today.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given instructions to look for land at Taratala or adjacent areas for this purpose," Chatterjee said at a function here.

"Techno India Group, Webel and the IT department of the state will jointly set up this hub," he said.

"Creation of jobs is the priority of the Mamata Banerjee government and there are a lot of job potentials in the IT sector," Chatterjee said.

He said the government was also on the look out for land to set up a software and harwdware technology park.

"Talks are on with Intel for setting up the hardware technology park," he said.

He also said that connectivity between the south-eastern suburbs of Behala with the central parts of the city would be much improved with the introduction of the 16.7 km Joka-BBD Bag metro railway. "Services between Joka and Taratala will begin within a year or two in the first phase," he said.

The foundation for the Rs 2619 crore project was laid by President Pratibha Patil on September 22, 2010 and work began on December 29 the same year.

PM Sets up Mechanism to Fast Track Project Implementation

New Delhi: Amid declining growth rate and the need to arrest economic slowdown, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved setting up of an Investment Tracking System to ensure speedy implementation of mega projects envisaging outlay of over 1,000 crore.

The proposed mechanism is aimed at addressing delays in implementation of projects, said a statement from Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

While implementation of public sector projects of over Rs 1,000 crore will be tracked by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, those in the private sector would be monitored by the Department of Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance.

The decision to fast track investments would provide fresh impetus to the economy, which is grappling with slowdown. The economic growth rate during 2011-12 slipped to a nine-year low of 6.5% mainly because of slowdown in manufacturing and poor investment.

Several mega projects, including Posco's proposed $12-billion steel plant in Orissa, has been hanging fire because of regulatory clearances and land acquisition issues.

The decision to set up Investment Tracking System, the statement said, is in "the context of delays faced by projects on multiple fronts - security clearances, environmental clearances, other clearances, land related matters, etc."

Issues concerning delay in implementation of projects was raised by India Inc at the last meeting of Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry in December