Mindtree planning to set up development centre in Kolkata: CEO

Mindtree, a Larsen & Toubro Group company, is planning to set up a development centre in Kolkata, which could create employment opportunities for 15,000-20,000 people in the next four-five years, a company official said here on Wednesday.

The IT services firm has already onboarded 1,700 people in its existing facility in the West Bengal capital so far, he said.

"We have taken up 19 acres of space. Hopefully, things will start. The construction will be done by L&T… the management is committed. We will set up a huge centre," Mindtree Ltd Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Debashis Chatterjee said at ICT East organised by CII. The development centre can create employment opportunities for 15,000-20,000 people, he said.

The IT company had in March announced the opening of its first development centre in Kolkata. Another IT company of the L&T group, Larsen and Toubro Infotech (LTI) had in June also announced opening up of a new centre in the eastern metropolis.

Larsen and Toubro board had in May announced a composite scheme of amalgamation of its two listed IT services firms to create a combined entity. During the event, State Information Technology minister Babul Supriyo urged the industry leaders to guide his department about "what needs to be done" to grow the information and technology sector in West Bengal.

Another multinational technology firm Oracle is also weighing opportunities in the state for a data centre project that could help small and medium businesses. We are working very closely with the government towards creating a dedicated data centre for West Bengal, said Shailendra Kumar, senior vice president, regional managing director India and NetSuite JAPAC, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit.

The plans could take shape over the next 2-3 months, he added.