The West Bengal government on Friday asked Microsoft Corporation to invest in the state, emphasising that it is ready to provide all kinds of support for development of the IT industry.
 
"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is ready to provide all kinds of support, for which we would like to have your guidance. We want you to invest in the state," IT Minister Partha Chatterjee told Microsoft Corporation India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik at an IT conclave in Kolkata on Friday.

"West Bengal has Rs 1.5 billion in IT investment annually, which is only 2.5 per cent compared to the overall national investment of Rs 88 billion. Our government wants to develop the IT industry so that we can be on par with other states in the country," he said.

Welcoming the proposal, Pramanik said, "The state government's proposal is encouraging." For development of the IT industry in the state, Chatterjee said the government has formed two advisory committees with Narayana Murthy as chief advisor and Sam Pitroda as chairman and the report given by them would be followed.

"This new sector has tremendous scope for employment and our government is keen to develop it," Chatterjee said. The government was also interested in developing IT hubs, with areas like Durgapur, Asansol, Siliguri, Haldia, Kharagapur and Borjora identified for this purpose, he said.

Giving the keynote address on 'Cloud Computing - The Virtual Technology of Generation Next', Pramanik said the Jammu and Kashmir government was using virtual technology to issue birth and death certificates and ration cards.

Stating that Microsoft Corporation was investing a huge amount on cloud computing, Pramanik said the new technology would be of tremendous help in the West Bengal government's e-governance initiatives.