Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub, where top companies such as Reliance Industries (RIL), Adani Enterprises and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have got possession of plots, is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025. The state government is now trying to fast-track granting of different statutory approvals to the companies in order to make up for the time lost during the pandemic.

The government believes the 250-acre futuristic tech hub in New Town, Kolkata, would attract around an investment of Rs 1 trillion and create around 50,000 direct jobs. Moreover, it is also expected to bring a boom in indirect employment opportunities.

The process of granting permissive possessions of plots to the eligible companies at the hub has been looked after by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO). However, it generally takes a lot of time for the companies, which get preliminary allotment of land, to get the permissive possession as several kinds of permissions are required.

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An entity gets permissive possession of land only after the state cabinet’s approval. After getting the permissive possession of plots, an entity can start construction for its facility after receiving the nod from Airports Authority of India (AAI), West Bengal Pollution Control Board, and fire and emergency services, among others.

As it is a long-drawn process, in order to fast-track it, the state information technology department has for the last three months been trying to establish a liaison mechanism among the concerned departments.

“The IT department is working diligently towards making the approval procedure smart and fast so that the companies can commence operations seamlessly at the Silicon Valley. We can only say that we are functioning aggressively on the ground level in our pursuit to fulfil the dreams of chief minister Mamata Banerjee,” IT & electronics minister Babul Supriyo told FE.

The foundation stone of the project was laid in August 2018 by CM Mamata Banerjee.

The government believes the futuristic hub would catalyse the IT ecosystem in the state and act as a beacon for the IT industry.

“There was a delay in the Covid period. We are trying to make up for the lost time. The IT department is now engaged with HIDCO to bring down the time for a company to get the permissive possession of plot after it receives the preliminary allotment at the tech hub. The department is also now overseeing the entire process to facilitate different statutory approvals required for the company before starting its construction for the facility,” a government source said.

“Adani Enterprises and TCS have recently received the permissive possession of plots and are going to start construction for their units soon. Reliance and Bharti Airtel subsidiary Nxtra Data have already started constructions for their facilities. Also, Japanese telecommunications major NTT started the construction within the hub. Altogether seven companies have already commenced constructions,” the source said, adding that the government expected all the companies to commence operations by 2025-end.

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The companies got allotted lands at subsidised rates at the tech hub. More than 40 entities have got plots at the hub. Land has been allotted by the government on the basis of lease agreement.

“The total investment at Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub could be around Rs 1 trillion. The hub would have the capacity of creating direct employment of around 50,000 people,” another source familiar with the matter told FE.

The companies here will work mainly in the domain of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and data science, among others.

While Adani Enterprises is expected to work on AI and data centre, among others, at its IT park, RIL is likely to develop all IT-related works at its park.

“There should be a boom in the indirect employment opportunities here. Ancillary business is expected to get a boost, while businesses like hotels, services and real estates will be benefited hugely from the tech hub,” the source added.