Bengal considering policy to encourage innovation in IT: minister

West Bengal Information Technology and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee on Thursday said the state government is considering to frame a policy for encouraging innovation in the IT and ITeS sectors.

Speaking at a webinar organised by BCCI, Chatterjee said the focus of the government is to make the state a prime destination for IT and also to bring the talent back to the state.

''We are actively considering to frame a policy to encourage innovation in IT and ITeS sectors in West Bengal,'' he said.

To start with, a data centre policy has already been notified and the idea is to make the state a hub of data handling and storage.

He said the government has also decided to grant fiscal incentives for establishing data centres in the state.

Chatterjee said, ''We are also talking to some organisations on setting up delivery centres in the state'' and this would attract talent to return to West Bengal.

IT and ITeS sectors contribute to around 10 per cent of the state's GDP, and the government has allocated Rs 183 crore for the two sectors in the budget for 2021-22, he said.

Chatterjee said the government has also provided land for an internet landing station in the state. The proposed Silicon Valley Tech Hub in New Town near Kolkata will be a futuristic hub, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)