HP invites bids for first IT park

Tenders have been invited to set up Himachal Pradesh’s first information technology (IT) park at Waknaghat in Solan district. The last date for submission of bids is October 26.

“The proposed IT park will be set up on a 64 acre area at the edge of the Shimla-Chandigarh national highway located 27 km from Shimla,” said B K Aggarwal, IT principal secretary on Friday.

“The state government will spend Rs 50 crore on setting up core infrastructural facilities like water supply, road network power supply for the park,” he said.

The IT park will be leased out to the private developer for 80 years.

“The broad concept of the project is to set up an ‘IT Destination’ comprising of core (IT) activity and value adds (residential, commercial and social infrastructure) in the clean and scenic hill station of Waknaghat,” Aggarwal said.

The developer will design, build buildings, units and other infrastructure. It will operate and maintain necessary utilities and amenities and manage the park during the lease period.

A ‘stakeholders meet’ is being held in New Delhi on 23 September to explain the detailed modalities of the project and seek feedback of the industry. Top industrial houses of the country have been invited to attend the meet, Aggarwal said.

”The successful bidder will be eligible for 100 per cent tax exemption for five years and 30 per cent for the next five years. Besides being eligible for 100 per cent exemption of central excise duty for ten years, uninterrupted and cheap power supply at Rs 3 per unit will also be made available,” Aggarwal said.

”Production units of 23 major IT companies have already been established in the state,” he said.