Calcutta, June 28: Bengal has failed to finalise a partner for the proposed Rs 5,000-crore IT township at Kalyani.

It had stipulated April 30 as the date for issuing the “letter of acceptance” to the partner, but that did not happen.

On February 10, Webel (West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Ltd) had invited expressions of interest (EoIs) for the project, spread over 100 acres.

However, an industry source told The Telegraph that Webel had extended the date to July 10.

“Maybe they are waiting for the Union budget. Since the industry is expecting some sops, the nature of this project may also change. But, the reason for the delay is not clear,” the source said.

In September last year, Webel had floated a tender inviting EoIs for an IT special economic zone at Kalyani to be developed in a public-private-partnership model. But, the project got shelved for reasons unknown.

In February, Webel came out with a fresh tender where the nature of the project was changed from an SEZ to an IT township.

On April 1, Webel chairman N. R. Banerjea had said that the department had shortlisted three firms — Mahindra Lifespace, Paharpur Cooling Towers and the K. Raheja Group — and expected to finalise the matter by the end of May.

Mahindra Lifespace and K. Raheja Group declined to confirm whether they had bid for the project. Paharpur Cooling Towers, which confirmed its participation, said the company had asked Webel to agree to “some terms and conditions”.

“On the day of the pre-bid meeting (April 3), we were the only company to be present at the venue. We are not sure whether anybody else has placed an EoI or not. Probably, we are the one to bid for the project,” the official, who is handling the project for Paharpur Cooling Towers, told The Telegraph. “If Webel agrees to our terms and conditions, we will go ahead with the Kalyani project, otherwise not,” he said.

Webel managing director Tamal Dasgupta did not comment on the progress of the project. State IT minister Debesh Das said Webel was working on the project. “It is taking some time. However, things will be sorted out soon,” he said.

Banerjea had admitted on April 1 that the land was not in Webel’s possession. “But, we have been assured by the land department in this regard,” he said.

Tech growth

The IT and ITeS industry is expected to grow at 10.8 per cent in 2009, the lowest in the last five years, because of the global economic meltdown. However, in the next four years, it will grow at 13.9 per cent to touch a revenue of $110 billion, a report by analyst firm IDC India said.