A land deal signed by the erstwhile Left Front government was sealed and delivered to Infosys by the Trinamul-led regime on Friday, giving the IT behemoth possession of a plot in the middle of nowhere where farmers still grow brinjal.
Officials of Hidco projected the handover of the map and other documents of the 50-acre plot in Bhangar II Block, under New Town’s Action Area III, as putting the ball in Infosys’s court to fast-track its entry into Bengal.
“Our effort has been to expedite the process, which is why we handed over the land map to a visiting Infosys official today. We intend to make up for any delay that may have occurred (since the land deal was signed ),” Pradyut Kumar Biswas, the joint managing director of Hidco, said.
Infosys didn’t make an official statement, but a source in the company said getting the land map and related documents was another step in a lengthy process that had only just begun. “The company cannot be deemed to have taken physical possession of the land until construction of the boundary wall begins,” he said.
Industry and IT minister Partha Chatterjee had met Hidco officials and Trinamul leaders in Action Area III two days ago to find ways to speed up payment of compensation to land losers who hadn’t received their cheques because of various reasons.
On Friday, road construction resumed on a stretch from where land losers had been chasing away workers to protest the delay in payment of compensation. “Our leader was among those supervising work at the site. So we didn’t object,” said one of the farmers who haven’t received their cheques yet.
Infosys is likely to have the plot measured by the end of this month. The company has already paid the land price of Rs 75 crore, at the rate of Rs 1.5 crore an acre.
“The government received the entire amount on October 21. The next step is for Infosys to apply and get all the necessary approvals before it can apply for special economic zone (SEZ) status,” an official said.
The SEZ status automatically qualifies a project for exemption from the land acquisition ceiling of 25 acres.
“It will take Infosys five to six months at the least to get the mandatory approvals from the environment and fire services departments. That means construction can start only in the first quarter of 2012,” a source said.
Infosys was allotted the 50-acre plot, adjacent to the one given earlier to Wipro for its second campus, in November 2010. The land deal happened after the IT major wrote to the then Left Front government, expressing its intent to invest in Bengal.
The New Town plot wasn’t the first choice, though. Infosys was to have set up shop in the proposed IT township under Chandpur panchayat. The township plan was scrapped after the investigation into the attack on the Vedic Village resort in the area revealed a series of shady land deals.
As and when Infosys logs in, employment opportunities will be the biggest gain for Bengal. The first phase of the IT company’s operations could alone create 5,000 jobs, an official of the IT department said.
But for that to happen, the government would first need to provide Infosys with more than just a land map.
