Calcutta, Sept. 10: The aborted IT township in Rajarhat has exposed the shortcomings of the government and private land collectors but it has left undisturbed another stakeholder: information technology giants.

With land becoming the most sensitive — and scarce — asset in a business enterprise, a logical question that few dare to ask is why cash-rich land-seekers such as Infosys and Wipro cannot pay the market price for space.

In Rajarhat, both Infosys and Wipro were once offered Hidco land but the deal fell through because of differences over price. The two infotech behemoths were apparently willing to pay only Rs 40-50 lakh an acre.

“Seeking land at such a low rate is in effect a demand to subsidise these rich companies by the government and the original owners of the land, which in many cases are farmers,” said a realtor.

After Infosys and Wipro declined to pay, TCS, the infotech titan, did pick up land in Rajarhat. “We negotiated with the government for the price of the land and Rs 1.5 crore was acceptable to us,” Ajoyendra Mukherjee of TCS said.

Not that Rs 1.5 crore was a great bargain for the government. In 2006, a private developer paid Rs 4.6 crore an acre for a 10-acre plot in Rajarhat to build an IT park. In 2008, a telecom giant paid Rs 8 crore an acre for three acres in Rajarhat for its own use.

Ask why Infosys should not pay a similar amount, it becomes clear that cut-throat competition among states is the main reason. It is another question whether companies that stress on corporate social responsibility should not be casting themselves as role models by paying the market price which the government should hand over to their original, and mostly less fortunate, owners.

Asked why the Bengal government should provide land at a discount, Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director of Infosys, referred to the “multiple choices” and the potential to create jobs.

“Companies like Infosys have multiple choices in cities to expand. Most governments are willing to subsidise in this competitive environment because of the job creation potential of the IT industry. Some studies show that 40 per cent of new jobs created in urban areas were created directly or indirectly by the IT industry. We have to look at the best combination of access to talent, support from the government and price when we look at a new location to expand,” Gopalakrishnan said in an email to The Telegraph in reply to a questionnaire.

Wipro did not give a specific answer to a similar question. “Wipro already has a presence in Bengal and we have adequate space for our current operations. We are committed to have a continued presence here,” Laxman Badiga of Wipro Technologies said.

Information technology does create jobs but the availability of large space is not a big factor. A real estate developer said no more than 5 acres would be required to create 5,000 seats — the number of jobs Infosys and Wipro had each promised initially.

If infotech companies opt for “vertical” development — as opposed to horizontal construction over sprawling grounds complete with golf courses — they can save space, industry analysts said (see chart). In March 2007, of the 784 acres Infosys had in the country, 247 acres were set aside for greenbelts.

“The kind of assets these IT companies hold will certainly make them eligible (to be called) national real estate players,” said Abhijit Das, a property consultant.