Bengal to support tech firms in upcoming Silicon Valley Hub

Kolkata: The state government is all set to provide "support price" to technology companies for setting up their facilities at the upcoming Silicon Valley Hub at New Town.

"The state has decided to provide the support price to attract technology companies from across the world so that they can set up their units at an affordable cost in the proposed hub. A policy document will be announced soon," Debashis Sen, Additional Chief Secretary, department of IT&Electronics, said on Tuesday.

He was addressing a gathering at the 17th ICT East organised by the CII.

"The intent of the Bengal government is to create a strong platform and make a robust digital ecosystem that evolves and grows in Bengal," Sen said.

"Bengal wants to become a knowledge catalyst on upcoming technology for businesses. The state government has partnered a number of leading institutions for this. We have partnered Calcutta University on Quantum computing, with ISI on Blockchain, with MAKAUT on Cyber Security, on robotics with NIT and on innovation and artificial intelligence with IIT Kharagpur," he said adding that the state government will organise a Blockchain Congress in December.

Sen added that with the rise of tech companies like Byju, Alibaba and Tencent the "centre of gravity for technology-related businesses" is shifting from the West to the East. "BAT (Byju, Alibaba and Tencent) is taking over the traditional behemoths of the Silicon Valley in California. Bengal is strategically creating a platform to take advantage of the emerging scenario," he said.

Dipankar Chakrabarti, co-chairman, CII Eastern Region Startup and Innovation Taskforce and Executive Director, PwC India, said: "There is a tremendous opportunity for companies in Eastern India to leverage technology megatrends like Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, artificial intelligence, Blockchain, etc."

Last month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had laid foundation for the setting up of the Silicon Valley Hub on 200 acreas of land.