KOLKATA: The city of joy finds the IT smile

DQW Bureau

06 Feb 2003

New Update

Advertisment

Job Charnock, chief of East India Company's factory at Hooghly, established a factory in Kalikata on 24 August 1690. This date is widely accepted as the foundation day of Kolkata / Kolkata. Kolkata has come a long way since then. Its rise was meteoric - from a nondescript village to the second city of the British Empire. Today Kolkata is one of the world's largest cities.

Despite the negative points stacked against it, Kolkata is representative of the human nature of surviving against all odds. Over the past decade, Kolkata has shown some marked improvements. From intelligent buildings to condovilles, from luxury hotels to software parks-Kolkata is undergoing a transformation. The city has the nation's first underground railway system. The Eastern Metropolitan Bypass-a six-lane highway has helped in the eastern expansion of Kolkata. The Vidyasagar Setu has eased traffic woes between Kolkata and Howrah. The Kona Expressway has provided a new connection to the Delhi and Mumbai highways. Several new flyovers are being constructed.

The state government has initiated projects like slum redevelopment schemes and has tied up with private sector companies to construct several housing complexes.

Advertisment

India's largest Science City - a science museum and convention center has come up in east Kolkata. The hi-tech industry has taken roots in Saltlec. New hospitals, modern shopping centers, restaurants and entertainment centers have thrown open their doors. Luxury hotels like the Hyatt and ITC Sonar Bangla are under construction. The once defunct telephone system is now on a new high with over 1.3 million connections. The number of mobile phone connections is growing at good pace. Power cuts are not the regular feature as they were in the eighties. Cars of every available model are rearing their heads in what was once a city ruled by the 1950s style Ambassador car.

A planned New Town is coming up at Rajarhat. This new township will house about one million people. Kolkata's looks can be deceptive but beyond the facade of the concrete jungle lies a big hearted city - a city of culture, a city of sports lovers, a city of festivals and a city which doesn't judge its citizens on the basis of wealth.

Kolkata continues to be the principal business and financial center as well as the gateway to the entire eastern and north-eastern region of the country. The metropolis, home for over 11 million people, is considered by many to be the best place to live in among the five metros in the country.

Advertisment

Kolkata is well connected by roads and railways to all major cities in India. Road: National Highway NH 2 to Delhi, NH 6 to Mumbai / Chennai, NH 34 / NH 31to Guwahati. Railways: South Eastern Railways to south and west India, Eastern Railways to the north and east. Air: to over 20 locations around the country and key destinations around the world.

Kolkata and Howrah are the twin cities on either side of the river Hooghly. Howrah has developed into an industrial center.

The two are connected by three bridges and ferry services across the river. The city itself has the only major riverine port in India, situated 231 km from the sandheads. The facilities at the port include 33 berths for POL and general break bulk cargo.

Advertisment

The total cargo handling capacity is 7.87mn tons, which includes the 4.67mn ton oil jetty at Budge situated a few kilometers downstream. A modern underground railway system serves the city commuters. The distribution of power in Kolkata has been for many years with the private sector, the CESC Ltd. All international banks and all Indian financial institutions have their offices in the city. The Kolkata Stock Exchange is the second largest in the country after the National Stock Exchange.

The city has nearly 0.57 million basic telephone connections served by digital exchanges.

Software and IT

Software has been one of the fastest growing sectors in India, with Bangalore and Mumbai as the prime centers. The growth has essentially come from exports of on-site professional services (service rendered at the client's site) though now there is a shift towards offshore services (completed in the home country and delivered to clients abroad). The main advantage enjoyed by the Indian software industry has been the availability of English-speaking qualified manpower at much lower rates than in the client country. The potential for growth in this industry in West Bengal is immense because of the competitive advantages like qualified manpower and infrastructure facilities. The major players in the state include Tata Consultancy Services and Price Waterhouse.

Advertisment

The Birth of Kolkata

In 1690, Job

Charnok, an agent of the East India Company chose this place for a British trade settlement. The site was carefully selected, being protected by the Hooghly River on the west, a creek to the north, and by salt lakes about two and a half miles to the east. The British bought three villages from local landlords and the Mughal emperor granted East India Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of Rs 3,000. At that time the capital city of Bengal was

Murshidabad. In 1756 Siraj-ud-daullah, nawab of Bengal, attacked the city and captured the fort. Kolkata was recaptured in 1757 by Robert Clive when the British defeated Siraj-ud-daullah on the battle field of

Plassy. In 1772, Kolkata became the capital of British India, and the first governor general Warren Hastings moved all important offices from Murshidabad to

Kolkata. Till 1912, Kolkata was the capital of India, when British moved the capital city to Delhi.

Being a knowledge- and services-based industry, the critical success factor is the availability of qualified manpower at competitive rates. In this area, the state offers competitive advantage due to the presence of a large pool of technically qualified people at competitive rates from several technical institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, Jadavpur University, Indian Statistical Institute and Kolkata University. Apart from this, the state has several computer training institutes.

Apart from the facilities at Salt Lake City, a massive Rs. 3,500 million (USD 100 million) intelligent city called Infinity has come up near Kolkata, to meet all the infrastructure requirements of the software companies.

Advertisment

Software Project in Kolkata

Pricewater Coopers

Pricewater Coopers (PWC) is setting up a state-of-the-art technology centre in Salt Lake City with a proposed built up area of nearly 100,000 sq. ft. The center will house an intelligent community where research and development work on e-commerce and e-governance, Intranet and websites will be taken up. The focus of the center shall be on the emerging technology, global best practices and the new business opportunities, including--major emphasis on e-commerce, especially Business to Business applications along with data warehousing. Shared services and outsourcing which is taking off globally. Authorized training centres for leading software companies. Virtual University Project for distance learning.

Setting up a 'vision zone' where PWC shall showcase the emerging technologies, solutions and applications to various industries.

To improve the infrastructure support further, a massive knowledge-intensive software complex - Asian Gateway - has been planned and is proposed to be promoted by the Chatterjee Group, an affiliate of Soros Fund Management. It shall provide 22 million sq feet of built up area for a mix of commercial, hotel and residential complexes.

Astral Systems Software

Based in Silicon Valley and founded by well known IT professionals, Astral Systems Inc is a US company which has set up base in Kolkata. The company is one of the fastest growing solution providers in the IT industry today. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Astral has its offices in Germany, Taiwan and India. Astral specialises in developing e-commerce applications and tools for Desktop Y2K problems, application migration to client / server and internet technologies. They provide quality software and professional consulting services to the global information services marketplace. As an ongoing process to deliver on-time / on-budget projects, Astral is today developing various productivity tools to help in the projects.

Advertisment

CA - TCG SoftwareThe Project

Headquartered in New York, Computer Associates is the third largest business software company. With establishments in over 40 countries, Computer Associates havve recently entered the Indian market. Teaming up with TCG, a joint venture comnpany was floated, CA - TCG Software Pvt Ltd (CATS).

CATS have set up their unit in Kasba with a manpower of 120. Total area acquired for this is 11,000 sq.ft on a rental basis. Investments made so far by the TCG group is around Rs.15 crore ($3.45 million).

Future Plans

Cognizant Technology Solutions

The $ 80 million Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS), leading light in the global software arena, is making Kolkata its core software development hub in the new millennium. In Kolkata it specializes in Client Server Technology and the Kolkata unit, set up in 1996, has achieved Level 4 of the Capability Maturity Model of the Soft Engineering Institute at Carnegie Melon University within one and a half years. In the past 3 years, Cognizant has injected over $ 25 million into its Kolkata operations and now it proposes to inject another $ 6 to $ 8 million in the calendar year 2000. Under its Vision 2000 plan, CTS plans fresh infusions for upgrading its infrastructure in Kolkata. It will focus on frontier technologies of the future like e-business and applications management solutions, which empower corporates to transact business in the Internet.

Major Resellers

AG Enterprises

SP Singh

231/A, Chittranjan Avenue

Kolkata 700006

Tel: 25309378

Fax: 25439035

E-mail: age_computer@hotmail.com

Advance Management Systems Ltd

Sanjay Chhajer

1, Tilak Road, Behind Desapriyo Park

Kolkata 700029

Tel: 24639889/90

Fax: 24639891

E-mail: advance@cal.vsnl.net.in

Alco Infotech (P) Ltd

Pankaj Kedia

5, Princept Street

Near Bank of Rajasthan

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22345578/79/80

Fax: 22345576

E-mail: alcoinfotech@yahoo.com

Allied Softs

Tridip Kothari

BB Ganguly Street

4th Floor, Suite No 403

Kolkata 700012

Tel: 22364973

Fax: 22364973

E-mail: allied@theoffice.net

Anupam Infotech

Anupam Kedia

113, Park Street

5th Floor, Block-B

Kolkata 700016

Tel: 22161204/05/28

Fax: 22161227

E-mail: anupam@anupam-infotech.com

Arihant Mercantiles

RK Bachhawat

Brabourne Court 1, Chandni Chawk Street

Kolkata 700072

Tel: 22218947/22367408

Fax: 22218861

E-mail: arihant@cal2.vsnl.net.in

Ashoka Information Systems

Vishnu Kant Holani

18, Netaji Subhas Road

3rd Floor

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22204055

Fax: 22436046

E-mail: holani@vsnl.com

AVO Electro Control Systems (P) Ltd

Vinod Agarwal

2 Debendra Dutta Lane

Kolkata 700007

Tel: 22395792

Fax: 22313217

E-mail: binoavo@satyam.net.in

Balaji Solutions Pvt Ltd

Rajendra Sekhsaria

Kamalalaya Centre, 156 A, Lenin Sarani

4th Floor, Room No 419

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22257241/42

Fax: 22378129

E-mail: balajiit@cal.vsnl.net.in

Bard Roy Infotech Pvt Ltd

Pradeep Jhawar

37, Shakespeare Sarani, 4th Floor

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 22809428/29

Fax: 22809870

E-mail: bripl@cal2.vsnl.net.in

Berlia Compu System

Sanjay Agarwal

P-3, New CIT Road, ETO Bldg, 4th Floor

Kolkata 700073

Tel: 22360450/0522

Fax: 22252121

E-mail: berlia@vsnl.com

Caltron

PL Suhasaria

34, Ganesh Chandra Avenue

Kolkata

Tel: 22365293/3915

Fax: 22363915

E-mail: caltron@cal2.vsnl.net.in

Chabria Infotech Pvt Ltd

Hemant Chabria

Suite No 88, 2nd Floor, 209

AJC Bose Road

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 22803375/76

Fax: 22810883

E-mail: chabria@vsnl.com

Channel Edge

Utpal Banerjee

10, Kalibari Lane, Ground Floor

Jadvpur

Kolkata 700032

Tel: 24148323

E-mail: ubanerjihea@hotmail.com

Compu Drive System

Sandip Golani

Saurab Apt, Flat-1A

54, Parnashee, Behala

Kolkata 700060

Tel: 24518363

E-mail: santapg@vsnl.com

Computek

Bajrang Churiwal

Â½, Lord Sinha Road

Kolkata 700071

Tel: 22821267/5197/6846

Fax: 22822768

E-mail: computekcal@vsnl.com

Computer Gallery

Praveen Pugalia

1, Chandni Chowk Street, Room No 6B

Ground Floor

Kolkata 700072

Tel: 22349808/9103

Fax: 22349104

E-mail: hi_micro@hotmail.com

Computer India

Rakesh Agarwal

26C, PK Tagore Street

Shop No 9, Ground Floor

Kolkata 700006

Tel: 25439760/61

Fax: 25439761

E-mail: computerindia@rediff.com

Computer India

HC Gupta

18D, Sukeus Lane, Ground Floor

Shop No 3 (on Brabourne Road)

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22100167/68

Fax: 22428938

E-mail: vishnu@computerindia.org

Computer Media

HC Gupta

14/2, Old China Bazar Street

Bikham Chand Market,Â

Ground Floor, Room No 75

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22101024

Fax: 22428938

E-mail: kamesh@computermediaindia.com

Computer Centre

Rajiv K Poddar

40E, Nimtola Ghat Street

Kolkata 700006

Tel: 25779617/6980

Fax: 25779617

E-mail: ups@smart-power.net

Computers & Networking

Pawan Kr Shroof

FMC Fortuna, 3rd Floor

Suite-B2, 234/3A, AJC Bose Road

Kolkata 700020

Tel: 22477720/22810424

Fax: 22477580

E-mail: pawanshroff@vsnl.net

Cyber Works

Raj Kr Agarwal

OM Tower, 7th Floor, 33Â

Chowringhee Road

Kolkata 700071

Tel: 22481910/2981

E-mail: fkc@cal.vsnl.net.in

Digital Data Systems

A Jalan

4/1, Middleton Street

304 & 305 Sikkim Commerce Hosue

Kolkata 700071

Tel: 22809837/8839/9934/6173/6174

Fax: 22806175

E-mail: dds@cal.vsnl.net.in & hitadds.ups@vsnl.com

Dinesh Enterprises Pvt Ltd

Rajesh Bhutoria

20, NS Road, Block-A, First Floor

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22102290/2291

Fax: 22107414

E-mail: vicom@cal.vsnl.net.in

Eastern Comnet Pvt Ltd

JK Baid

16, Ganesh Chandra Avenue

First Floor

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22256162/68

Fax: 22373033

E-mail: eastern_comnet@vsnl.com

EDP Software Ltd

D Boral

216/2H, AJC Bose Road

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 22804302/22477147

Fax: 22408776

E-mail: edpcorp@vsnl.com

Major Resellers

Epoch Marketing Pvt Ltd

Champak Kundu

66, Salkia School Road

Howrah 711106

Tel: 26653636/9193/1551

Fax: 26653636

E-mail: epoch-electronics@vsnl.com

Fiji Electronics Pvt LTd

SK Banerjee

66/1, Netaji Subhas Road, Behala

Kolkata 700034

Tel: 24686756/0925

Fax: 24686756

E-mail: fiji@vsnl.com

Global Information Technology

Jamil Ahmad

27/B, Syed Amir Ali Avenue

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 22807108

Fax: 22811307

E-mail: git@vsnl.com

Hyson Computers Pvt Ltd

S Gupta

Y-18, Electronics Complex, Saltlake

Kolkata 700091

Tel: 23571751

Fax: 25377258

E-mail: soumitra@aforeserve.com

Imaging Solutions

25, Swallow Lane, Ground Floor

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22212194

Fax: 24799534

E-mail: recycling@rediffmail.com

Industrial Suppliers

VK Tolasariya

77 NS Road, Third Floor

Suite No 326

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22433813/2223

Fax: 22101439

E-mail: indsup@vsnl.net

Innovotech

Brahm Prakash

P-103, Princep Street

Kolkata 700072

Tel: 22349842/22346613/22377339

Fax: 22346614

E-mail: innovotech@vsnl.net

IT Planet

Deepak Mohta

11, Clive Row, Second Floor

Room No 11

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22429751

Fax: 22421915

E-mail: deepak@bestitworld.com

Jalan Infotech Pvt Ltd

Arun Kr Jalan

54/C, Hazra Road

Kolkata 700019

Tel: 24750137/2256

Fax: 24748797

E-mail: ajalan@jalan-infotech.com

Jupiter Infosys Ltd

Kamal patwari

30, Jadunath Dey Road

Fourth Floor

Kolkata 700012

Tel: 22373660/9410

Fax: 22258232

E-mail: info@jit-jupiter.com

Knowlage Consultants Pvt Ltd

Anand Gupta

50, Chowringhee Road

Air India Building, Ground Floor

Kolkata 700071

Tel: 22821966/68

Fax: 22431630

E-mail: anand@knowlage.com

Lalani Infotech Ltd

KL Lalani

'Landmark', First Floor

228A, AJC Bose Road

Kolkata 700020

Tel: 22408573

Fax: 22408573

E-mail: lalani@cal2.vsnl.net.in

LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd

S Bhattajaraya

1, Lee Road, Ground Floor

Kolkata 700020

Tel: 22805077/78

Fax: 22807577/78

E-mail: sbhattacharya@lgezbuy.com

Logica Systems

Gaurav Goel

19, RN Mukherjee Road

Eastern Building, First Floor

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22105481

Fax: 22106692

E-mail: logica1@satyam.net.in

Lotte Computers

Chandra P Shaw

32B, Ganesh Chandra Avenue

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22347091

Fax: 22368998

E-mail: cpss@vsnl.com

Lunia Powerline Systems

Sunil Lunia

125, Netaji Subhas Road, Second Floor, Room No 20

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22311744/22301026

Fax: 22311374

E-mail: lunia@cal2.vsnl.net.in

MM International

M Gupta

14B, Camac Street

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 2240336/5153/8077

Fax: 22407712

E-mail: sales@lnsel.com

Macaws Infotech

Manasi Saha

BF-60 (Ground Floor) Salt Lake

Kolkata 700064

Tel: 23594147

Fax: 23582788

E-mail: macaws@vsnl.com

Makson Engineers

S Agarwal

24 & 26 Hemant Basu Sarani

G-3, Mangalam, Block-B

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22438756

Fax: 22433881

E-mail: makson@cal2.vsnl.net.in

MBT Infosys

Satish Toshniwal

23/1, Maharshi Debendra Road, Basement

Kolkata 700007

Tel: 22390941/22337351/8461

E-mail: mbtinfosys@vsnl.net

Mehta Impex

Virendra R Mehta

50, Chowringhee Road First Floor

Kolkata 700071

Tel: 22822927

Fax: 22829877

E-mail: mehta12@cal3.vsnl.net.in

Microtech Software

AK Khurana

116/1/1, Mahatma Gandhi Road

Madho Bhawan, First Floor

Kolkata 700007

Tel: 22190001/1666

Fax: 22194040

E-mail: ajaymic@cal.vsnl.net.in

Microcom

G Jayanth

8A, Maharaja Nandakumar Road

Kolkata 700029

Tel: 24645000

Fax: 24645000

E-mail: microcom@vsnl.com

Microtrack Business Systems Pvt Ltd

Vikash Tebriwal

1, Rawdon Street

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 22474058/1473

Fax: 22801853

E-mail: theweb@cal2.vsnl.net.in

New Millennium Infotech

Nirmal Kanodia

7/1, Sarat Bose Road

Kolkata 700020

Tel: 22873415/2597

Fax: 22873415

E-mail: nirmalkanodia@hotmail.com

Next Computing Pvt Ltd

Sanjay Choudhuri

58A, Shakespeare Sarani

Kolkata 700017

Tel: 22477167/22404858

Fax: 22409683

E-mail: tropica@vsnl.com

Nimbus Technologies

Neeraj Agarwal

Vidhan Mansion, 3rd Floor, 5, Moti Sil Street

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22288127

Fax: 22289290

E-mail: nimbus@vsnl.com

Nucom Infotech Pvt Ltd

Sanjiv Ganeriwala

10, GC Avenue, Room No 11B (Second Floor)

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22219033/24838750

Fax: 22219033

E-mail: nucom@vsnl.com

Odyssey Computers Services Pvt Ltd

Narendra Dhanuka

306, Mukti Chambers, 4, Clive Row

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22104209/4212

Fax: 22104212

E-mail: odyssey@vsnl.com

Ontrack Systems Ltd

B Hari

276B, Lake Gardens, Near Mohan Bhavan

Kolkata 700045

Tel: 24178434/35

Fax: 24221264

E-mail: ospl@vsnl.com

Opto Audio Electronic Products Pvt Ltd

Om Prakash Jalan

1/1, Sourin Roy Road

Kolkata 700034

Tel: 24687297/24584173

Fax: 24687297/24584173

E-mail: opto@cal.vsnl.net.in

Origin Infosys

Prakash Jain

22, Prafulla Sarkar Street

Third Floor, Room No 302

Kolkata 700072

Tel: 22345573

Fax: 22350732

E-mail: pjlpj@123india.com

Major Resellers

Imaging Solutions

25, Swallow Lane, Ground Floor

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22212194

Fax: 24799534

E-mail: recycling@rediffmail.com

Industrial Suppliers

VK Tolasariya

77 NS Road, Third Floor

Suite No 326

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22433813/2223

Fax: 22101439

E-mail: indsup@vsnl.net

Innovotech

Brahm Prakash

P-103, Princep Street

Trisita Corporation

Shiv Kr Modi

34A, Metcafe Street, First Floor

Kolkata 700013

Tel: 22348660

Fax: 22348663

E-mail: chanchaldas@hotmail.com

Vikas Computers Pvt Ltd

Sajjan Saraf

P-43, Rabindra Sarani

Kolkata 700001

Tel: 22253293

Fax: 2553294

E-mail: 9831012302

Vision Comtech

Ashis Kumar Paul

147 E, Sarat Bose Road, Second Floor

Kolkata 700026

Tel: 24630450

Fax: 24630450

E-mail: visioncomptech@vsnl.com

Vedanth

Sampath Kanodia

13, Broad Street

Kolkata 700019

Tel: 22405519/5520

Fax: 22405517

E-mail: computec@cal.vsnl.net.in

Kolkata 700072

Tel: 22349842/22346613/22377339

Fax: 22346614

E-mail: innovotech@vsnl.net