In the wake of West Bengal scraping a proposed IT township project after a land scam at Vedic Village, industry body Nasscom today said the state government should provide land to IT companies from its real estate pool. “The Government has enough land. It has land in Rajarhat township, but it is meant for real estate. Government has to choose whether it wants employment by offering land to IT companies or just make buildings,” Nasscom Eastern Regional Council Chairman V V R Babu told reports on the sidelines of a CEOs Summit here. The West Bengal Government had early this month shelved the IT township project at Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas, where Wipro and Infosys were supposed to set up their units, after allegations of irregularities in allocation of land for the luxury Vedic Village resort surfaced.

Both of the IT majors were assured 90 acre of land each by the government and the MoUs in this regard were signed last year. Told that IT companies were not ready to pay the proper price for land at Rajarhat, Babu said companies wanted land at a price they received in other states. Meanwhile, former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said it was the government which drove IT companies to cities. “In small cities, companies do not require 25 acre, but below this companies do not get tax benefits,” he said. Nasscom president Som Mittal said IT companies required large space to set up training and infrastructural facilities. On the alleged land scam, Mittal said, “It is temporary setback for IT sector in Bengal. It has happened at a time when industry is hit with slowdown and growing only at a rate of 4-7 per cent. I hope in the next 6-8 months the government will come out with an alternate proposal.”

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