MaSSSoftech

Kolkata, Sept. 7 It is official now. The West Bengal Information Technology Department, in a post on its Web site on Monday, announced the scrapping of the proposed IT township project, Kolkata Links, at Rajarhat near here.

The West Bengal Government had proposed to offer land to Infosys and Wipro in the township project.

The project had hit a political roadblock due to local disturbances. Both the companies would be informed about the issue, the statement indicated.

The uncertainty over the IT township project had been in the air for some time. A few days ago Business Line, quoting the State IT minister, had reported that the project had hit a roadblock. It started with allegations of illegal land deals. .

“The Government does not want to be involved in any illegal activity. Already, some departments have favoured scrapping the project. Thus, the IT Department cannot proceed with the project, and at this moment we are unable to stick to our assurances of providing land to Wipro and Infosys, and thereby constrained to inform them about the Government’s inability,” the statement said.

Recently, Mr Raj Kishore Modi, one of the directors of Akash Nirman, the nodal agency for land acquisition for the project, was arrested following a controversy over acquisition of land in nearby Vedic Village, a resort.

Mr Modi is also a Director of the resort that suffered extensive damage in an agitation by local people.

The incident evoked sharp reactions from different sections , including some within the West Bengal Government.

Monday’s statement made it clear that the IT Department had no role to play in the land acquisition. “In May 2009, the IT Department got a list of 90 acres of land from the private partner that could be given to IT companies and the West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL) provided the details of the 90 acres of land to Infosys,” the statement said.

No land has been transferred till date to either WEBEL or the joint sector company, Webel Akash IT Links Pvt Ltd, the press release added.