Kolkata, Aug 27 (PTI) The new technology campus of IT major LTM Ltd in New Town, Kolkata, was inaugurated on Thursday by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, marking a major expansion of the company’s presence in eastern India.
The first phase of the campus, Ananda Niketan, located in the Bengal Silicon Valley hub of New Town, comprises two buildings spread across nearly eight lakh square feet and can accommodate around 5,800 engineers and other professionals, L&T chairman and managing director S N Subrahmanyan said.
Inaugurating the new campus, Adhikari announced the allotment of an additional 10 acres of land to LTM for setting up a data centre. The company had written to the state government seeking the additional land around two months ago, he said.
LTM, formerly LTIMindtree, is an L&T Group company.
The campus represents an important milestone in LTM’s growth in India and will function as a Global Delivery and AI Competency Center, supporting the company’s global delivery capabilities and AI-focused operations, a statement said.
Describing the facility as one of the L&T Group’s largest technology investments in eastern India, Subrahmanyan said the campus would serve as an integrated centre for learning and innovation, supporting clients across banking and financial services, travel, manufacturing, energy and technology.
The campus will focus on artificial intelligence, data, cloud and digital engineering, he said, adding that the group sees “real potential” to develop it into a larger technology and innovation hub in the coming years.
The L&T chairman said the group had received approval to construct four more towers at the site and that L&T Realty was already working on taking up the remaining towers.
“I promise you, sir, in a very short while we’ll request you to come to inaugurate two more buildings in the same campus,” he told the chief minister.
The new facility has been designed with an emphasis on sustainability, incorporating energy-efficient systems, smart building management and water conservation measures.
Subrahmanyan said Ananda Niketan draws inspiration from Bengal’s tradition of learning and openness, referring to Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan.
“Beyond the buildings, what defines Ananda Niketan is its people — the engineers, technologists and problem solvers who will learn, collaborate and build new capabilities here every single day for clients around the world,” he said.
Adhikari, in his address, urged skilled and educated professionals from Bengal working elsewhere to return to the state, saying the government was working to create greater employment opportunities for the state’s youth.
“There are a huge number of educated unemployed. They are crying, they need jobs, and they are very much interested in Bengal,” he said.
He also highlighted emerging technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, chip design, automation and digital manufacturing, and called for greater academia-industry partnerships to create jobs.
Adhikari assured LTM of continued government support and urged the company to make further investments in the state.
“LTM is a very good and reputed international player. I am assuring you that the L&T Group will come again and again and invest here more. We will cooperate with your team,” he said.
The project brought together various L&T Group businesses, with L&T’s construction arm executing the project and its project management and facility management businesses involved in its development and future operations.
At the peak of construction, nearly 3,000 workers were engaged at the site, while the project clocked nearly 8.5 million safe man-hours, Subrahmanyan said.
The company said the Kolkata centre would help harness the region’s talent pool and academic ecosystem while creating opportunities for skilled professionals in West Bengal and neighbouring states.
LTM CEO and managing director Venu Lambu said Kolkata’s “deep talent pool, strong academic heritage and growing digital ecosystem” made it a strategic location for the company. PTI BSM RG
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