INFOTECH TIER-II TAG MAY WORK IN KOLKATA'S FAVOUR

Ajanta Chakraborty, Kolkata, October 12, 2008
The Time of India

West Bengal's sunshine sector is poised for brighter days even as darkness looms worldwide. Here's how. Over the past two weeks - ever since all hell broke loose on the western financial front - the state's IT sector has been getting strong investment signals.

Even in the days of global gloom, two IT BPO majors - Quattro and ICICI Infotech - are currently negotiating with the government to set up shop here. Kolkata's credentials as a low-attrition, low-cost, high-output city will work in its favour when the worldwide cry is to cut costs.

A senior official at the state IT department said: "American companies that have been outsourcing to tier-I IT cities like Gurgaon, Banglalore and Hyderabad, are forcing Indian BPOs to reduce costs drastically. Such IT firms will automatically turn to tier-II cities like Kolkata and Pune. So, business will flow to cities like Kolkata." It already is. TCS, IBM, Tech Mahindra and Genpact, have all been tapped recently with business propositions, sources said.

IT minister Debesh Das has no second thoughts. "This is a golden opportunity for us. We must make the most of it so that Kolkata emerges as the next BPO destination," he said. "We hope to promote Kolkata as a cheaper and ideal IT destination at the Indiasoft 2009 IT exposition, where a host of foreign delegates have been invited."