Bengal's IT scenario is fast changing. But at the same time it is facing many challenges. These include dollar depreciation, inflation and strikes. Subhajit bhattacharya spoke to Siddharth, Bengal's Principal Secretary, Information Technology, to find out what role the state has been playing in tackling these challenges and also about its future plans for the development of the IT industry. Excerpts of the interview.

The IT sector has grown enormously. But according to experts there is still a lot of scope for further growth. So what exactly the state IT department is doing in this regard?

We are continuously stressing on the promotional activities. The government is very proactive and is trying to woo investment into this sector. We are also doing road shows in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune. Recently we have also organized an investment seminar in London, where the state IT Minister was also present. There we met about 30 to 40 IT and venture capital companies. Then we went to Paris where we met companies like Capegemini, which have already started their operations in Bengal .We also spoke with the Bavarian Government in Germany there are also many IT companies which are very keen to come West Bengal.

We see great prospects for the IT future in Bengal and this sector is bound to grow. We have about 20 million sq. ft of office space which is under construction and it is all meant for sanctioned projects. So by the end of another three years we can expect to provide jobs to about two lakh IT professionals. From the government side we are making an honest effort and we are targeting potential customers who are eager to invest in Bengal.

Of late, the state IT dept is rather focusing on the software and the hi-tech industry in a large way. What is the strategy?

We have to accept the fact that we are late comers in this field. But at the same time we have to grow and we have to do it as fast as we can. As we all know, we have a very strong background in the semiconductor industry and required courses are taught in reputed universities such as Jadavpur , Kharagpur and Shibpur. So we have huge human resources. We have a plans to build an India Design Centre, where will have different facilities such as an incubation centre or hitech lab, etc. We are now stressing on developing prototype chips because there is a huge market for them. We are also planning to lease out some software manufacturing tools so that the small companies get some help from such initiative. The state IT Department is also emphasizing on building the embedded and wireless systems.

I personally think that the electronics industry has a great potential in Bengal because once the TATA Small car project comes into operation, all the ancillary companies will start their operations and they will all work on the embedded systems. We want to capitalize on that.

After the budget certain taxes are introduced in the IT sector and some existing levies are hiked. Have these measures affected the IT boom?

Now I think the IT industry in India is not in a state of infancy and it has matured enough. It can take on some more responsibility for the sake of the country so it is the time for them to contribute more. But at the same time we have seen that there is very little done for the small companies in this sector in this budget. Also nothing has been mentioned about the STPs' expansion. So from our side we are trying to do our best in this regard.

The Indian economy is facing threats like inflation and rupee appreciation. Toi what extent this factor us going to affect the IT sector?

I think that these are all small bad patches which every country is going through and I think that our IT scenario is strong and mature enough to face this kind of problem. Definitely the market has been affected but at the same time we also have to see that the market has also expanded a lot. Now our market is not only bound to the US and UK but has spread all over Europe.

What the State IT dept is doing about the small players in the IT sector?

The state IT dept is always very eager to help the small players in the industry. We also have different plans for them. We have allotted 30 acres of land for the SMEs in Rajarhat and we have distributed it to about 48 companies. Also in Durgapur, Siliguri and Kolkata we are building up WEBEL parks where we will provide space to small companies at minimum rates. We also have plans to fund them. We have also created a venture capital fund the small IT companies.

What is your vision for the IT industry in Bengal?

I think Bengal has a great potential and as I have mentioned many big companies such as TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, HSBC, are very happy with the kind of resources we have and they are very eager to expand their operations. I think the companies which are already here in Bengal are our biggest brand ambassadors. Also new companies such as Accenture are very eager to start their ventures. So I am very hopeful about our Bengal's future.