Calcutta, April 30: The Bengal government has decided to build more IT parks even as 40 per cent of the available space in 19 of the completed projects remain vacant.
A team from the state IT department along with various trade bodies and some major IT companies are scheduled to visit Darjeeling this month to identify suitable land for the construction of two new parks.
According to sources, one of the areas would be near Darjeeling town, while the other may be in Kalimpong.
Existing capacity
Eight of the 19 projects in the state were completed by 2010, which had over 4,55,000 square feet of space that could be given on rent. Of this, about 89 per cent, which is nearly 4,10,000 square feet, was let out as of March 2017.
In 1990, Bengal's first IT park came up in Saltlake Sector V, now known as SDF Building, and has since recorded a 100 per cent occupancy rate.
The other seven that became operational by 2010 were Siliguri (phase-I), Durgapur (phase-I), Software Technology Park-II, Salt Lake Incubation Centre, Webel Bhavan, Taratala Human Resource Development Centre and Moni Bhandar.
Low occupancy
The remaining 11 of 19 IT parks, which became operational from 2012, have an occupancy rate as low as 30 per cent. Of a total 4,70,000 square feet of area that can be let out, less than1,50,000 square feet was leased out as of March 2017.
These parks are in Rajarhat, Durgapur (phase-II), Siliguri (phase-II), Borjora, Asansol, Bolpur, Purulia, Kharagpur, Haldia, Howrah and Kalyani.
"Most of the new IT parks are in the tier II and tier III cities and the lifestyle in many of these areas does not appeal to the youth today. Companies, therefore, choose spaces in and around the main city," said a senior official of an IT company.
Among the new IT zones, Durgapur (Phase-II) and Kalyani IT park has a 100 per cent and 95 per cent rate occupancy, respectively.
Last year, San Jose-based Ensim Corporation, a subsidiary of Ingram Micro - a Fortune 500 IT major, had taken up the entire building in Durgapur, while Kalyani hosts three firms along with the Indian Institute of Information Technology as its campus is under development.
