Bengal to have four hardware parks soon: Minister

West Bengal government will soon have four new hardware parks at Sonarpir, Kalyani, Bolpur and in West Medinipur, said state Information and Technology minister.

While inaugurating Computer Association of Eastern India (Compass) Expo at Milan Mela ground on Friday, state IT minister Partha Chatterjee said, “We are giving special importance to hardware industry. Land for three hardware parks are ready in addition to our proposed hardware park at Sonarpur. These hubs will come up at Kalyani, Bolpur and West Medinipur.”

Compass may extend support for the feasibility study of the Kalyani Hardware Park, hints senior office-bearers of Compass.

The state is also interested in foreign participation for developing IT hardware industry and the minister had already discussed the issue with visiting delegation of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC), said a source.
Major Taiwanese brands like Foxconn, Asus, Garmin, CEC, D-link, Acer are already having their presence in West Bengal. Some of these companies are also participating in Compass Expo.

The minister also said that the state is open to exchange of trade delegations from both sides to select partners and do business.

“The state is open to PPP model to boost up Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Already incubators have been established at Durgapur and Shiliguri. Efforts have been taken to have IT parks in more Tier-II towns like Assansol, Kharagpur, Haldia, Falta, Vishnupur, Balurghat and other district towns,”Chatterjee said.

According to the minister, about 230 IT companies out of over a thousand in West Bengal have exported products worth Rs 7,500 crores in 2011-12.