Bengal wooing Infosys to set up base in Kolkata

After sealing the land deal with Wipro, West Bengal has asked another IT major Infosys to set up its base in Kolkata, state IT minister Debesh Das said on Wednesday.

Das said state IT department had written a letter to Infosys asking the company to come to the city.

Earlier, the state government had allotted land to the company. The allotment had been scrapped due to the outbreak of Vedic Village Resort land scandal last year.

Das told reporters on the sidelines of Infocom 2010 in Kolkata on Wednesday that more than 90,000 IT professionals were working in West Bengal.

"We expect that the number to grow by 40 per cent next year," Das said.

At the end of March 2009, software exports from the state stood at Rs 5,900 crore (Rs 59 billion). Das admitted that the state did suffer from a branding problem.