Bengal gives over 51 acres to Adani Group for its hyper-scale data centre

Kolkata: The state Cabinet on Monday gave its nod to Adani Enterprises for setting up a hyper-scale data centre at Bengal Silicon Valley in New Town. The total land of 51.75 acres has been allocated to the Adani group for the project. State Industry and Information Technology (IT) minister Partha Chatterjee said the Adani Group applied to West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) for allocation of land which has been approved by the Cabinet.

"The state Cabinet has approved the proposal from Adani Enterprises for setting up a hyper-scale data centre at Bengal Silicon Valley in New Town. The land is being given on a 99-year lease. The state government is excited at the investment as it will create huge employment opportunities and will boost economic activity," Chatterjee said.

He added that the state government has allocated 200 acres of land in two phases at Silicon Valley Hub and this land is being offered just beside it as Phase III.

Chatterjee, however, did not disclose the amount of investment and the employment potential of the project.

Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Group, had announced during the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) that his company is looking to invest around Rs 10,000 crore in Bengal across various sectors, including port, infrastructure, data centres, warehousing and logistics parks among others over the next 10 years.

The Silicon Valley project was launched by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in August 2018 in New Town's Action Area II to attract investment in the IT sector and to build a world-class ecosystem for cutting edge technologies and innovation.

Chatterjee also announced the approval of the Cabinet in offering 5 acres of land each to four companies for setting up a cycle hub at Vidyasagar Industrial Park at Kharagpur in West Midnapore. The land belongs to West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).

The total investment in the first phase will be Rs 40 crore (Rs 10 crore) by each of the 4 companies and employment will be generated for 600 people with 150 to be employed by each of them. "We distribute 10 to 11 lakh cycles every year under Sabooj Sathi scheme that involves an expenditure of Rs 400 to 500 crore. We have to import cycle parts from other states as there is no cycle factory here. So we are delighted with a dedicated cycle hub being set up in Bengal," a senior Cabinet minister said.