Guwahati, March 1: Announcing plans for a long-time commitment with Assam, the $4.3 billion Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today signed a memorandum of understanding with IIT Guwahati to set up a learning centre in the city.

CEO and managing director S. Ramadorai, who is leading a high-level company delegation to the state, said it is for the first time that the company has entered into a collaboration with an IIT.

The TCS learning centre, to be set up on the IIT campus in the city, will stress on collaboration in research and development based on mutual interests. The idea behind the venture is to harness the intellectual capital of the region and develop the northeastern states as a whole, Ramadorai said.

“It is a beginning and we have sown the seeds for a long-term commitment. The state is known for tea and oil. Now software will be added to it,” he said after signing the MoU in Dispur today.

The centre will start operating by the middle of this year.

Two decisions forced the company to take the decision of coming to Assam, considered a risky place for investments, he said.

“The first reason is the immense availability of talent and the second is the welcoming nature of the Assam government.”

The CEO added that the company was delighted with the talent pool in the Northeast and the dedicated training centre would give a strong fillip to human capital development efforts in an inclusive manner by hiring and training engineers and science graduates from the area.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the city now has a chance to become one of the top IT cities in the country. He thanked Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh for taking the initiative to bring TCS to Assam. Ramesh termed the entry of TCS into Assam as a “giant act of faith” on the company’s part.

Assam IT minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government had acquired 300 bighas for an IT park in Guwahati, adding that the Assam Electronics Development Corporation will collaborate with TCS to develop an online portal.

Hailing the entry of TCS as a historic occasion, IIT Guwahati director Gautam Barua said it would usher in a big change.

The new training facility in Guwahati will be used to conduct TCS’s globally recognised initial-learning programme for fresh engineering graduates as well as a seven-month ignite training programme for science graduates.

TCS trainees will have access to all facilities at the IIT Guwahati campus, including classrooms, library as well as sport and recreational facilities.