Pledging all-out
support to Infosys in establishing its facility in West Bengal,
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government would, however, not grant special economic zone (SEZ) status to the IT major as her party was in principle opposed to creation of SEZs.
"We are
against setting up of SEZ. We will remain firm on our stand. We are against forceful land acquisition. We want Infosys to establish its facility in the state. We will help them in all possible ways but I cannot call it SEZ," Banerjee said in an interview telecast on three Bengali news channels.
"Because we have made the law that
we will not allow SEZ in the state, so we cannot twist the law for a specific corporate house. We will give them all help and facilities. If possible, we can also provide them with facilities that they get under the status of SEZ. But on the question of principle we cannot make an SEZ as we have created a land policy where we have clearly stated that we are against SEZ," she said.
Infosys purchased 50 acres of land for the project in Rajarhat, on the northeastern fringes of the city, for Rs 1.5 crore per acre for the project. The company also made the payment in full in October last year.
Recently, it had written a letter to Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) seeking clarification on its SEZ status in the state.
So far, there are four IT SEZs in West Bengal - Wipro, Unitech, DLF and Bantala IT SEZ.
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