Writankar Mukherjee

ITC Infotech, the technology arm of tobacco to hotels major, ITC Ltd, has decided to set-up its second software development centre in Kolkata. The company will invest about Rs 100 crore and employ 3000 people in the first phase of the project. The Kolkata unit will be processing IT and high-end ITeS Jobs for the company. ITC Infotech is looking for about 15-20 acres of land in Kolkata to set up its infrastructure. "The Kolkata operation is scheduled to start from April 2005. We are now in the process of searching land for the centre," said Mr. Sanjay Verma, MD, ITC Infotech.

Mr. Verma met the West Bengal IT minister, Manabendra Mukherjee and the state's IT secretary, G.D. Gautama, on Wednesday and conveyed the company's future growth plan in the state. "We are now in the process of finalising the area where we would provide land to the company. Probably, we would provide the land at Action Area I in Rajarhat on a long-term lease," Mr. Gautama said. Incidently, the state government would be constructing a dedicated hub for IT companies at Rajarhat, christened Sunrise City. The project has a lot of significance for West Bengal since the existing IT hub at Salt Lake's Sector V is saturated and has no free space on offer.

ITC Infotech currently has its sole software development centre and BPO unit at the recently built 'ITC Infotechpark' in Bangalore. The 36-acre campus currently has a team of about 1200 knowledge workers. Against such a backdrop, the Kolkata centre will evolve as the largest unit for the company in terms of human resource employment.

When ITC Infotech commenced operations, nearly 95% of its revenues came from its parent company. Currently, this dependence has come down to nearly 15%. The company has also, recently, made a foray into the BPO space by signing a joint venture with US-based ClientLogic Corporation. Termed as CLI3L (ClientLogic ITC Infotech India Ltd) contact centre, the joint venture is worth $5 million. Another MNC giant, GE Capital is also planning to set-up their BPO unit in Kolkata. A top management team of the company is at present touring the city in search of land. "The team is currently in Kolkata to do due diligence for the project. They are looking at the logistics for their Kolkata centre," Gautama added.