Bengal's latest casualty is 600-acre IT park with Infosys

infosys

To the list of projects the West Bengal government has put in deep freeze after its electoral rout, another one got added today: a 600-acre IT park in Rajarhat meant to accommodate Infosys.

State IT Minister Debesh Das admitted that 90 acres had been earmarked for Infosys in the IT park which is now on hold as a direct fallout of the Vedic Village Spa and Resort controversy. Infosys, eager to enter the state, was kept waiting as the government couldn’t find suitable land. Last year, the government announced it had identified land for the IT giant contiguous to the Vedic resort.

But now there are allegations of forcible land acquisition by owners of the Vedic resort at the behest of the government. “Let us see what the government decides,” said Das. “Right now, we cannot say anything, everything is stalled. The government will not get involved with anything that is illegal.”

If Das put a question mark on the project, his colleague Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah demanded scrapping of the IT park. “It should be cancelled immediately. I would rather prefer land acquisition by the government because only the government can ensure a viable package for landlosers,” said Mollah.

The state asked Vedic developers to buy 1550 acres from farmers. Of this, 600 acres were to go to the government for an IT park; another 600 acres would stay with the developers for a township and on the balance 350 acres, the government was expected to create infrastructure for both the IT park and the township.

“Of the 600 acres, the government had already got 200 acres in which 90 acres each were earmarked for Wipro and Infosys,” said Das. The developers have acquired 500 acres so far.

The Vedic resort has been in the eye of a storm since violence broke out after a soccer match on August 23 in which one person was shot dead. Angry villagers, complaining of landgrab by musclemen sent by the resort management, vandalised the resort.

Meanwhile, Mollah today waved doctor’s prescriptions and ayurvedic samples to show that his visits to Vedic Spa were on “health” grounds. “It had nothing to do with sleaze or alcohol or whatever this resort is being associated with. I will not visit the vice den any more.”

Asked if he paid for his visits to the spa, Mollah said he did not. “The ayurveda doctor at the Vedic Spa had developed a special bond with me. I will not visit the resort any more, I would rather get the doctor to visit me.”

Incidentally, Mollah gave the final clearance leasing 44 acres to R K Modi, Managing Director of the resort, who is now in judicial custody.