The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) recently conducted ICC IT and ITeS
Survey on West Bengal, which provided an overall picture of what is happening in
this high-potential sector in the state. The survey, which was a primary
research activity, pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of the IT and ITeS
sector in Bengal, and also laid some important recommendations. ICC felt that
while advantages like availability of skilled manpower and pro-IT sector
government policies have helped Bengal emerge as a prominent IT-driven state,
there are still many constraints, which pose threat to the state's ambition of
becoming one of the top three states in IT in the country by 2010. Formation of
trade unions in the IT sector, 'bandh's, disruptions, etc which do not allow IT
to actually operate as a 'public utility service' as declared are some of the
factors that hamper the progress of this sector in the state.
The survey stated that America's Silicon Valley is ruled by Indian IT
entrepreneurs and technocrats, and a sizeable proportion of them originate from
Bengal. ICC felt that it is time to bring back these entrepreneurs into their
state of origin by creating an enabling policy environment. Also, it is
important to have companies like Infosys in the state, apart from global majors
like Texas Instruments and Intel. Existing companies must be encouraged to
undertake capacity additions.
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| Harsh Jha, President, ICC and Dr
Rajeev Singh, Secretary General, ICC unveiling the survey report on the IT&ITeS
industry in West Bengal |