IT body seeks change in policy

More incentives, simplification of procedure sought

The Gujarat Electronics and Software Industries Association has demanded significant changes in the information technology (IT) incentive scheme and policy of the government. The association had recently submitted a detailed report to the government.

The report, the 'First comprehensive draft for discussion,' expressed dissatisfaction over certain conditions of the existing incentive schemes floated by the government and asked for changes in them to attract IT investments.

"In an age where more and more bandwidth is the need of the hour, restriction on dolling out subsidy only to the units enjoying connectivity up to 64 kbps is ridiculous. The whole of information technology enabled services (ITES) is based upon high-speed broadband connectivity. In this light such restriction are antiquated," said the report.

The report, prepared after taking suggestions and opinions from industry experts, also said all fixed costs including rentals on a lease line and hardware infrastructure paid in the process of installing these lines must be admissible for connectivity incentive.

According to an IT expert, internet service providers and cyber cafes should be made eligible for this incentive as low cost of usages by masses due to the subsidy will result in high penetration of IT. The procedure to clear all the incentive proposal must be simplified and disposals should be time-bound.

"The spirit of the new IT Policy should be to attract big IT units to Gujarat so that cluster development could take place," he said.

On employment incentive, the report cited examples of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which gave an employment incentive of Rs 20,000 to entrepreneurs for each unemployed graduate employed by them.

"It is suggested that once an entrepreneur establishes the unit, provides training and generates employment for an unemployed graduate, he should be paid an employment incentive at the rate of Rs 30,000 per person based on monthly average taken for last 12 months. We suggest there should be some reserved seats in the schools for the children of the persons in the field of IT or ITES."

The report said financial institutions and bankers do not view IT services as specialised industry and do not consider hardware as sufficient security for loans. "Bankers should be apprised of the special nature of IT projects," the report said.

"A separate fund should be created to assist all information and communication technology ventures," the report said.