Kris Gopalakrishnan and Partha Chatterjee

Sept. 6: Infosys and the Bengal government have “agreed to work together towards finding a solution” to “issues around” a proposed project in the state, the company said after a meeting with industries minister Partha Chatterjee in Bangalore today.

“We had a meeting with the IT minister of West Bengal, Partha Chatterjee, today; and discussed the issues around the proposed Infosys Development Center in Calcutta. We have agreed to work together towards finding a solution,” an Infosys spokesperson said.

The company had earlier put the project “on hold” after the state government declined to recommend special economic zone status for the project.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee appeared to be enthused by the company’s statement, saying in Calcutta that the meeting between Chatterjee and Infosys was fruitful. “Infosys has issued a press release stating they will work with the state government,” Mamata said while leaving Writers’ Buildings.

Industries minister Chatterjee suggested that the main issue was incentives rather than the SEZ status the company has been insisting on.

“It is not SEZ per se but the financial benefits that come out of the status are in question,” Chatterjee said after meeting Kris Gopalakrishnan, the Infosys co-founder and executive co-chairman.

“We have talked about a few options on how their perceived loss from not having an SEZ could be compensated. But I can talk about it only after speaking to chief minister Mamata Banerjee,” he said.

The minister, who went to the Infosys headquarters after the IT giant sent a letter seeking to sign a lease agreement for a 50-acre plot in Rajarhat, said: “We cannot change our declared policy against SEZs. They, too, have some reservations against taking any other route. They also know that the Centre would not extend the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) scheme. But even then, Infosys has decided to work with us to make this project happen.”

It is not clear if Infosys is considering a proposal to shift the project to another site, which enjoys the SEZ status and is held by Shapoorji Pallonji, or if it is open to weighing the incentives the state government can offer before taking the final decision on pursuing the SEZ demand. The company’s statement did not refer to the status of the SEZ demand.

Minister Chatterjee said the state government was not in a hurry to sign the lease deed with Infosys till the company finalised the project.

“We want them to come to Bengal and utilise the potential available in our state in terms of qualified manpower. But the bottlenecks have to be sorted out through more discussions,” he said.

According to sources, Infosys and Bengal government officials may consider taking a joint team to New Delhi to seek a way out.