Odisha, STPI to sign pact for four new centres

The Odisha government is set to sign a pact with the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) on November 5 for the establishment of four new centres in the state.

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

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

Barring the Balasore unit, which is under construction, the other three are now operational and contribute a major chunk to the state's Rs 2,900 crore IT export basket. More than 75 IT units in the state, including Infosys and Tech Mahindra, have been registered with the STPI.

A provisional incubation facility at Balasore spread 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 pact is likely to be signed between Director General of STPI and State IT secretary”, said an official.

The new centres will give a boost to the IT sector and promote entrepreneurship. STPI has been contributing the significantly for the development of the sector, he added.

It will also contribute to the employment in sector and help in achieving the targets of the ICT Policy- 2014, said the official.

The state ICT policy targets to achieve a turnover of USD 4 billion and achieve direct employment of 60000 by promoting 800 IT/ITes and ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) units.

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