Bengal Silicon Valley on track with 42 companies onboard: Minister Babul Supriyo
Also Read | West Bengal CM Mamata announces new TCS office in New Town, spread over 20 acres
'In Bengal Silicon Valley, we had about 250 acres of land. All land parcels in the 250-acre Bengal Silicon Valley have been allotted, with 42 companies onboard. Nineteen of them have already started their work in some manner, and three are fully operational,' he said at ICC VisionTech - LEAD 2025, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on July 12.
Mentioning other IT parks in the State, such as Kalyani, Durgapur, and Siliguri, the minister added that all 10 Webel-owned properties in Sector V and the three in Siliguri have reached 100% occupancy.
'Tata Consultancy Services already had a campus here, where they had already employed around 50,000 employees. And just about a couple of days back, their Head also had a very fruitful meeting with our Honourable Chief Minister, in which the way forward has been crafted. They are holding strategic discussions on further expansion in Bengal,' he added.
In his address, Mr Supriyo highlighted recent developments in the semiconductor sector in the State, with the recent establishment of GlobalFoundries' R&D operations in Kolkata. 'We are in the final stages of announcing forward-looking semiconductor and GCC policies to ensure a responsive, future-ready ecosystem. But we are taking a little bit of time because we want to make it as competitive with the other States and make it full-proof where we cater to the needs or the aspirations that are coming back to us right now,' he said.
Mr Supriyo also addressed the extensive migration from West Bengal to other countries and other metro cities in the country. He underlined the comparatively lower costs of living in the State and the Chief Minister's vision to 'make Kolkata a leading IT hub of India'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Australia regulator says YouTube, others 'turning a blind eye' to child abuse material
Australia's internet watchdog has said the world's biggest social media firms are still "turning a blind eye" to online child sex abuse material on their platforms, and said YouTube in particular had been unresponsive to its enquiries. In a report released on Wednesday, the eSafety Commissioner said YouTube, along with Apple, failed to track the number of user reports it received of child sex abuse appearing on their platforms and also could not say how long it took them to respond to such reports. The Australian government decided last week to include YouTube in its world-first social media ban for teenagers, following eSafety's advice to overturn its planned exemption for the Alphabet-owned Google's video-sharing site. "When left to their own devices, these companies aren't prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement. "No other consumer-facing industry would be given the licence to operate by enabling such heinous crimes against children on their premises, or services." A Google spokesperson said "eSafety's comments are rooted in reporting metrics, not online safety performance", adding that YouTube's systems proactively removed over 99% of all abuse content before being flagged or viewed. "Our focus remains on outcomes and detecting and removing (child sexual exploitation and abuse) on YouTube," the spokesperson said in a statement. Meta - owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the biggest platforms with more than 3 billion users worldwide - has said it prohibits graphic videos. The eSafety Commissioner, an office set up to protect internet users, has mandated Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap and WhatsApp to report on the measures they take to address child exploitation and abuse material in Australia. The report on their responses so far found a "range of safety deficiencies on their services which increases the risk that child sexual exploitation and abuse material and activity appear on the services". Safety gaps included failures to detect and prevent livestreaming of the material or block links to known child abuse material, as well as inadequate reporting mechanisms. It said platforms were also not using "hash-matching" technology on all parts of their services to identify images of child sexual abuse by checking them against a database. Google has said before that its anti-abuse measures include hash-matching technology and artificial intelligence. The Australian regulator said some providers had not made improvements to address these safety gaps on their services despite it putting them on notice in previous years. "In the case of Apple services and Google's YouTube, they didn't even answer our questions about how many user reports they received about child sexual abuse on their services or details of how many trust and safety personnel Apple and Google have on-staff," Inman Grant said.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
TCS to roll out hikes for majority of staff from Sept 1
Bengaluru: TCS, which is planning to cut 2% of its workforce—over 12,000 mid and senior employees—this year, surprised its staff by announcing salary hikes for eligible associates up to grade C3A and equivalent (freshers to mid-level), covering nearly 80% of its workforce. This comes at a time when many of its peers have either deferred salary hikes or placed them on hold. The salary hike will be effective from Sept 1, according to an internal communication sent out by CHRO Milind Lakkad and CHRO-designate K Sudeep on Wednesday. When TOI reached out to TCS, the company said, "We can confirm that we will be issuing wage hikes to around 80% of our employees effective Sept 1, 2025." During the April earnings presser, TCS indicated that it might have to defer its annual increments, a rare deviation from its April cycle, coinciding with clients' downbeat sentiment emerging from a slowdown and tariff-related uncertainty. Even in the June quarter earnings, Lakkad said the company has not made any decision yet regarding wage hikes. TCS's June quarter results reflected lacklustre performance attributed to weak macroeconomic conditions, cautious client sentiment, delayed decision-making, and the winding down of the BSNL deal. Its revenue for the June quarter fell 3.1% year-on-year in constant currency and 3.3% sequentially, as geopolitical uncertainties dampened demand. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru Last year, TCS implemented salary hikes ranging from 4.5% to 7% for its associates, with high performers receiving double-digit increases. However, the company has not disclosed the average hike in its communication. News of this year's salary increase comes amid a challenging period marked by cautious client spending and delayed decisions in key markets like the US and Europe. Nevertheless, the company remains optimistic about a turnaround, anticipating stronger demand in the second half of the year. Indian IT CEOs have adopted a cautious tone in their commentary on wage hikes. When TOI asked Infosys CEO Salil Parekh about the timelines for wage hikes, he said, "We concluded our compensation increases for Q4 and Q1 of the last fiscal year….Now that this cycle is complete, we are beginning to evaluate the timing for the next round—as we do after every cycle. During Covid, the standard cycle was disrupted, leading to two increases over 18 months. There are no changes planned. We will stick with our existing process and announce the next cycle at the right time."
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
TCS to roll-out wage hikes for about 80% of employees, effective September 1
Agencies India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday informed employees that it will roll-out wage hikes for about 80% of workforce, covering mid to junior levels. The wage hikes comes at a time when TCS is set to lay off about 12,000 employees this year. The wage hikes will be effective September 1, TCS CHRO Milind Lakkad and CHRO Designate K Sudeep said in an email to employees on Wednesday. "We are pleased to announce a compensation revision for all eligible associates in grades upto C3A and equivalent, covering 80% of our workforce. This will be effective September 1, 2025," says the email seen by PTI. The email goes on to say: "We would like to thank each one of you for your dedication and hard work, as we build the future of TCS together." The extent of wage hikes could not be immediately ascertained. When reached for comment, the company in a statement said: "We can confirm that we will be issuing wage hikes to around 80% of our employees effective September 1." The move to reward and retain talent comes at a time when TCS has decided to lay off over 12,000 employees as part of what it describes as a broader strategy to become a "future-ready organisation". This entails focus on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment, according to the company. "TCS is on a journey to become a future-ready organisation. This includes strategic initiatives on multiple fronts, including investing in new-tech areas, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for our clients and ourselves, deepening our partnerships, creating next-gen infrastructure, and realigning our workforce model," the company had said last month as the news of layoffs shook the IT industry. "Towards this, a number of reskilling and redeployment initiatives have been underway. As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible. This will impact about 2% of our global workforce, primarily in the middle and the senior grades, over the course of the year," TCS had then said. The layoffs at TCS have, in fact, ignited larger conversations on whether or not the IT industry itself may be headed for a major reset, amid turbulence from global macro uncertainties, impact of US' crushing tariffs on overall outsourcing sentiments, and the AI-led disruptions. As it is, India's top IT services companies have delivered single-digit revenue growth in Q1 FY26, capping off a somewhat-sobering June quarter as macroeconomic instability and geopolitical tensions have weighed on global tech demand and delayed client decision-making. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Berlin to Bharuch: The Borosil journey after the China hit in Europe FIIs are exiting while retail investors stay put. Will a costly market make them pay? BlackRock returns, this time with Ambani. Will it be lucky second time? Paid less than plumbers? The real story of freshers' salaries at Infy, TCS. Stock Radar: Down 27% from highs! Hero MotoCorp stock shows signs of momentum after breaking out from 11-week consolidation For those prepared for the long game: 5 mid-cap stocks from different sectors with an upside potential of 14 to 33% in one year Financial services: Time to look at a new set for the next cycle? 5 stocks from the financial services space with upside potential of up to 37% These 8 banking stocks can give more than 29% returns in 1 year, according to analysts
