Centre Taps Big Tech for Data Centres and R&D in West Bengal: A Strategic Inflection Point

India’s central government courts global and domestic tech giants to boost West Bengal’s digital infrastructure and innovation landscape

The Indian government has initiated high-level outreach to global tech giants and Indian conglomerates to establish data centres, R&D hubs, GCCs and semiconductor projects in West Bengal. This move, accelerated by recent political shifts and massive national incentives, signals a pivotal moment for the state’s industrial revival and digital transformation.

1. A Renewed Push Post-Elections

Following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections held on April 23 and 29, 2026, with results declared on May 4, the central government has intensified efforts to attract technology investments to the state . A senior official from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) confirmed that outreach is underway with global giants like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Indian conglomerates such as Reliance Industries and the Adani Group, targeting data centres, R&D facilities, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), and even semiconductor projects .

2. Current Digital Footprint: A Lagging Landscape

West Bengal currently contributes only 2.1 % of India’s software exports from STPIs and SEZs in fiscal year 2024–25, ranking seventh among states. By comparison, Karnataka led with 35 %, Maharashtra 19.1 %, Telangana 15.3 %, Tamil Nadu 12.8 %, Haryana 5.3 %, and Uttar Pradesh 4.6 % . In the data centre space, Kolkata accounted for just 1 % of new capacity additions between January and September 2025, far behind Pune (5 %) and Hyderabad (4 %) .