Calcutta, Feb. 18: Videocon, which has proposed four special economic zones in Bengal, today promised to provide jobs to one member of each landloser family and expressed a desire to discuss with displaced farmers their possible share-holding in the projects.

“Besides job assurances for one member of each displaced family in the concerned project, we are also open to discussing their equity participation in our SEZ projects. The recent controversy over the Tata project in Singur was unfortunate and should not happen in other places,” Venugo-pal N. Dhoot, chairman of the Rs 7,000-crore Videocon Group, said here today.

The company wants to develop an infotech SEZ in Siliguri, a multi-product SEZ at Kalyanbill and Motiagachha (off Rajarhat) in North 24-Parganas, an electronics SEZ at Suryapur (off Kalyani Expressway) and another multi-product SEZ at Kharagpur.

But for the Siliguri project, which being IT and less than 250 acres does not require the Centre’s in-principle approval, all the three have got the nod already.

But the projects are all pending because the Centre has yet to finalise its SEZ policy.

Dhoot said that for the Siliguri SEZ, the company is in talks to start land acquisition on its own. It would directly negotiate the price and package with the farmers, if required.

However, for SEZ projects that are bigger in scale, Dhoot said the company would require the state’s help, especially with the rural land ceiling law in place.

The amendment to the bill has been stalled, primarily because of lack of consensus within the Left Front.

The Videocon boss expressed confidence in the chief minister. “Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee might be from the Left government but is rightist when it comes to the state’s development and industrialisation.”

The company’s total investment in Bengal would be to the tune of Rs 2,150 crore.

The site for the Kharagpur, Suryapur and Kalyanbill projects has not been chosen yet.

Apart from the SEZs, Videocon is building a 3.5-milli- on sq ft IT park in Salt Lake’s Sector V. Construction on the Rs 200-crore project on excess land held by Kitchen Appliances India, a Videocon subsidiary, has started.

The company had also proposed to invest Rs 100 crore in the appliance company’s Taratala unit to make computers and a special glass for television picture tubes.

To begin with, 5,000 personal computers would be manufactured every month and the production would be ramped up depending on demand.