Centre gives nod to four new STPI units in Odisha

Last year, Centre had given in-principle approval for six new STPI centres for the state

In a major boost to Odisha's IT (Information Technology ) sector, Union Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has accorded final nod to four new STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) centres in the state.

"The department of electronics and information technology (deity) under the ministry of communications and information technology has approved setting up of four new centres. We are yet to receive a formal communication. It is our biggest achievement", said Pranab Prakash Das, state IT minister.

The new centres will come up at Jajpur, Anugul, Koraput (Jeypur) and Sambalpur.

Last year, the Centre had given in-principle approval for six new STPI centres in Odisha. The sites selected were Jajpur, Sambalpur, Koraput (Jeypur), Angul and Kalahandi (Bhawanipatana). After that, the state had sent feasibility reports of five more locations barring Bhawanipatana for final approval.

With the addition of new STPI centres, the number of such centres in Odisha will now go up to eight. The four centres already established in the state are located at Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Rourkela and Balasore.

Barring the Balasore unit, which is under construction, the other three centres are now operational and contribute the major chunk to the state's IT export basket. More than 100 IT units in the state are registered with STPI.

A provisional incubation facility at Balasore spreading over 5,000 sq ft is operational from a temporary campus. The Balasore centre will be a 20,000 sq ft facility built at a cost of Rs 10 crore in Bampada industrial estate.

The STPI centre in the coastal Odisha district will act as a resource centre for IT/ITes exporting units by offering general infrastructural facilities, ready to incubation space, high speed data communication (HSDC) with 100% uninterrupted data connectivity and other amenities required for export of software and services.

A total of 45 units have contributed to IT exports from the state during 2014-15. Of them, 42 units are registered under STPI and the balance are located in Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The IT export from Odisha was Rs 2,564 crore in 2014-15.

The STPI registered units have clocked export figures of Rs 2,077 crore while SEZ units exported Rs 487 crore worth of software. Among others, software majors Infosys, Tech Mahindra are registered with the STPI in Odisha.