By IANS,
Kolkata : The West Bengal government’s decision to scrap an ambitious IT project, where companies like Infosys and Wipro were to set up units, has not gone down well with British investors, a trade official from that country said Monday.
The scrapping of the project following controversy over land acquisition has had a negative perception in the minds of British investors, UK-India Business Council chief operating officer Kevin McCole said.
“The IT sector in the city had drawn some good investments in the last few years. Now after the Vedic Village controversy, it might be difficult to draw big-ticket investments,” he said at an interactive session here organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
“There is a negative perception among investors in the UK regarding investments in Bengal at present.”
The state government scrapped the project, proposed to come up near the luxury resort Vedic Village at Rajarhat, after allegations of irregularities in land acquisition.
Cole urged the state government and various industrial lobbies to ensure the industrialisation bid was back on track.
But he added that British business delegations kept visiting the state despite controversies over land acquisition for industrial projects.
While three business delegation came to the state in 2005, the number rose to 11 last year, Cole said.
Most of the British companies interested in pumping in money in the state are small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They do not require large tracts of land, he said.
“So it should not be difficult to have strategic alliance with West Bengal in the SME sector. We are talking to various chambers to change this perception.”