West Bengal is significantly expanding its IT infrastructure with a Rs 30,000 crore (approximately $3.6 billion USD) investment in its Silicon Valley project, with a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and global capability centers. IT Secretary Shubhanjan Das announced that the 250-acre project is progressing rapidly and is expected to generate at least 7,500 jobs. As of January 2026, 41 companies have already been allocated land within the Silicon Valley hub, and construction is proceeding at a "fantastic pace".
The project is a key component of the state's long-term digital roadmap. The state government is also finalizing a proposal to allow private companies access to the state-run Siliguri data center for AI training and model building. This data center features high-end infrastructure, including 40 H100 Nvidia GPU chips and around 40 L100 chips.
West Bengal is strategically positioning itself as a major data center hub in India. The state currently ranks sixth in India for data center capacity, with 11 private data centers already in operation. Several major players are establishing a presence in West Bengal, including Reliance Jio, which is building a 40-acre mega campus in Bengal Silicon Valley in partnership with Microsoft to set up an AI-based data center slated to be ready by 2026. Airtel and LTIMindtree also have data centers underway at the Silicon Valley hub in New Town. Other companies with data centers in the state include STT Telemedia and NTT.
Beyond Kolkata, West Bengal's technology footprint is expanding to include centers in Siliguri and Durgapur. The state currently hosts 32 government IT parks and over 60 private IT parks, housing more than 2,800 IT and IT-enabled services companies that employ over 2 lakh people. Software exports from the state have grown from Rs 8,000 crore to over Rs 40,000 crore in the past 15 years.
Sushil Mohta, Chairman of the World Trade Center Salt Lake, noted that West Bengal is becoming a strong destination for Global Capability Centers (GCCs) due to its academic institutions, talent pool, and improving infrastructure. He suggested that the state should improve its marketing, particularly in Europe.
