Wipro pays Rs18 crore first installment for Rajarhat campus land

Industrialisation in West Bengal received a boost on new year's day with IT service major Wipro Technologies paying Rs18.9 crore as the first installment towards application fee for the 50-acre plot in New Town Action Area III in Rajarhat, the site where its second campus will come up in the state.

According to a senior official of the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO Ltd), the implementing agency of the Rajarhat township, Wipro had given 25 per cent of the quoted price for the plot as application fee and the remaining amount would be paid within 90 days.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji had finalised the deal with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee when he visited the plot with officials of his company last December.

The land, which belongs to WBHIDCO, was bought by the IT giant at a price close to Rs1.5 crore per acre. When the IT major first expressed interest in setting up a campus in Rajarhat, the government had quoted a price of Rs2.16 crore an acre.

Premji has set an 18-month deadline for work to start on the second campus.
 
According to a senior IT-official in the state IT department, Wipro had promised to make payment towards the first installment in December and considering that it had kept its word, the company would start work at the earliest.

There was no news, however, from Infosys, which was also offered a 50-acre plot of land at Rajarhat to set up a campus.

With the application fee being paid, WBHIDCO can take up the measurement and demarcation of the plot after completion of which the Bangalore-based company would have to submit its construction plans to WBHIDCO for approval.

The WBHIDCO official added that at times they need to make some minor adjustments during the measurement and demarcation process, which has to be done before the final installment is paid.