No plans now to return Bengal land: Infosys

IT major Infosys Monday said it did not have any immediate plans to return the 50-acre plot given by the West Bengal government, but indicated that a solution could be found out if alternative proposals like “SEZ-like tax benefits” were provided.

“There are no plans to give up land at this point,” Infosys executive co-chairman S Gopalakrishnan said here.

The project has been stalled with the company still awaiting a response from the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on attaching a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status or attributing similar benefits to the proposed project at Rajarhat in the city’s northeastern fringes.

The project has failed to take off as the Trinamool Congress government has been refusing to grant the SEZ status to it.

Infosys had paid in full the Rs.75 crore for the 50-acre of land at the satellite township of Rajarhat in 2008 during the tenure of the erstwhile Left Front government.

However, after the new government came to power in 2011, it declared its opposition to SEZs. The IT firm has put the project on hold since then.

Gopalakrishnan said SEZ status – providing for tax benefits like 100 percent waiver on exports for the first year and 50 percent for the second year would give the company competitive advantage.

“Industry is willing to accept the fact that SEZ-like benefits are provided to companies, even if an SEZ status is not granted,” he said.