Kolkata: The West Bengal government has decided to set up 17 industrial hubs across the state with an objective of generating at least 275,000 jobs in the next five year.

Almost all the hubs will have an integrated IT set-up to facilitate rapid growth of industries sector in the State.
 
An announcement to this effect was made by State IT Minister Partha Chatterjee the other day while laying the foundation stone of an IT hub at Kanyapur in Durgapur, which has been tipped to house an industrial hub.
 
Being developed on a six-acre land, the proposed IT set-up is likely to create direct and indirect job opportunity for about 14,000 people. It is being jointly set up by the IT department and West Bengal Electronics Development Corporation Limited (WEBEL)—the nodal agency of the Government of West Bengal for developing Information Technology, Electronics and ITES industries in the State.
 
“The plug and play incubation facility provided at the IT Park has already drawn attention from various SME companies. An IT company has already started operation and three more set to start operations here,” he said, adding that the new IT policy being drafted would lead to massive investment in the State in the sector.
 
About the proposed industrial hubs, officials said that the State government has already imitated the process to complete formalities for establishment of industrial parks on about 23,000 acre land in different parts of the State.

Two of them have been proposed in Salt Lake area, while biggest one proposed to come up on about 7500 acre land in Raghunathpur of Purulia district. Five industrial parks have been proposed to set up in Howrah.