IT major Infosys has asked the West Bengal government to execute lease deeds against a 50-acre land at Rajarhat on the Eastern fringes of the city.
In 2011, Infosys made full payment of Rs 75 crore for the land identified for setting up its first campus in the city. The project, however, suffered a jolt as the State Government denied to grant SEZ status to the campus.
According to sources in the State Secretariat (Writers’ Buildings), a letter has been sent to HIDCO – a nodal infrastructure agency in the State – from whom Infosys had purchased the land.
“We received a letter on August 29 seeking their willingness to execute lease-deeds,” Debasis Sen, chairman, HIDCO, said.
According to Sen, the letter sought an execution of a formal “deed of conveyance” (also called lease deed).
The IT major, despite making full payment for the land is yet to get possession of the same.
Infosys denies
Infosys officials, however, denied writing to the State.
The company’s chief financial official, V. Balakrishnan claimed to have no knowledge of the matter.
“The State IT Minister, Partha Chatterjee, is likely to visit our campus in Bangalore for a courtesy meeting later this week. But we have not written to the State for execution of a lease deed,” Balakrishnan said.
Speculation is rife that issues relating to Infosys’ Bengal campus might come up during the discussion. The project has currently been kept on hold.
Proposed second campus
According to him, there has not been any development over the proposed campus in Bengal and the company would stick to its demand for an “SEZ status”.
“Currently there is no development on the Bengal campus. Discussions are on with the state government. We stick to our stand of having an SEZ status,” he maintained.