The West Bengal government on Thursday said it has received applications for 21 special economic zones in the IT sector, of which six were in the final stage of approval.

The six, which were in final stage of approval, could now take up construction, State IT Minister Debesh Das said in Kolkata in the Assembly. A SEZ set up by Wipro [Get Quote] was already functioning in the state, he said.

A wireless technology research centre was being set up at Calcutta University, he said, adding that the government was trying to make the state a wireless hub.

"We are trying to bring wireless companies to the state as we want them to set up units which will generate employment," he said.

A chip designing centre would come up at Salt Lake. The IT minister said as per recommendation by the Pricewaterhouse Coopers, IT parks would be set up at five places outside Kolkata including Durgapur, Siliguri, Haldia, Kharagpur and Kalyani.

To a question, he said it was wrong to say that only low-end IT jobs were being done in the state citing that "even a bridge for Chicago was being designed here."

Admitting that West Bengal had started late in IT, he said the rate of growth here was very high. "We started IT in 1999-2000 and by 2005-06 the state witnessed 17-fold increase," he said.