West Bengal information technology department is planning to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers for doing a feasibility study on the potential of satellite towns like Siliguri, Kharagpur, Durgapur and Haldia, as an IT destination.
IT secretary Siddharth said, the proposal had come from PwC and the framework entailing terms of reference and fees would be chalked out in the next fortnight, following which the study would be commissioned.
The study was likely to be completed in the next 3-4 months.
The move assumed significance in the wake of the fracas over land price in Kolkata.
The asking rate for Rajarhat was Rs 2.16 crore (Rs 21.6 million) per acre, way above the price at which IT majors were getting land elsewhere. For instance, Infosys Technologies had offered a price range of Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) to Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million) per acre.
Infosys was understood to be waiting for a proposal from the state IT department.
The company had been shown the area around Vedic Village, east of Kolkata.
Siddharth said, the price of the land was yet to be determined.
Industry sources said, land price was unlikely to go below Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 15 million) per acre.
Siddharth said, the idea behind commissioning the study was that the IT department was trying to find out whether promoting the towns made business sense.
He said, the towns could be developed to be a preferred destination for investment.
Siddharth said, the only problem in Siliguri was the airport which was under the air-force and had short runway. Siliguri airport could be developed by expanding the runway but some tea estates would have to be acquired to expand the runway.
In Haldia, the optical fibre cable could be laid and it also had an STPI.
Siddharth said, land availability would not be an issue in Haldia.
In Kharagpur, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation would be acquiring 1,200 acres, which also included the land for Telcon's earth moving equipment project.
Of the 1,200 acres, an IT park would have 100 acres and biotech park 170 acres.
