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IT major Infosys will not return the 50-acre land that had been given to it by the West Bengal Government, the company’s co-founder and Executive Vice-Chairman, S. Gopalakrishnan, said here on Monday.
Indicating a possible solution to the proposed impasse over its first campus in West Bengal, he said that “industry” was willing to accept alternative proposals if “SEZ-like tax benefits” are provided.
“There is no question of returning the land,” Gopalakrishnan, who is also the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said during a press conference.
The proposed campus has been in limbo for nearly two years for want of an SEZ (special economic zone) status.
During the erstwhile Left Front’s tenure in 2008, Infosys had purchased nearly 50 acres at Rajarhat on the eastern fringes of Kolkata at a rate of around Rs 1.5 crore an acre. The company also made the entire payment in October 2011.
However, problems started after the Mamata Banerjee Government came to power in 2011 and objected to the SEZ status for the project. Infosys sought clarity on the cancellation of the SEZ status and has since then kept the Bengal “project on hold”.
Resolution
According to Gopalakrishnan, an SEZ status would help the company obtain competitive advantage. The status would entail tax benefits such as a 100 per cent relief on exports for the first year; followed by 50 per cent tax relief (on exports) for the next 10 years.
“Industry is willing to accept the fact that SEZ-like benefits are provided to companies, even if an SEZ status is not granted,” he said.
Granting of matching tax benefits (to an SEZ) had been a bone of contention between the IT behemoth and the Bengal government. The Bengal Government had earlier proposed that it would write to the Centre seeking these tax benefits for companies but without the “SEZ” tag.
Asked if Infosys would go ahead with its proposed campus following SEZ-like benefits, Gopalakrishnan said: “I have said what I have to in the context of the industry in general. I am not going to discuss Infosys specifically here.”
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