Odisha urges Centre to clear ITIR project

The state IT (Information and Technology) department has sought the final approval from Union ministry of Communications and IT for the development of IT investment region (ITIR) in Bhubaneswar.

The ITIR in Odisha is to be developed on an area of 41.32 sq km (10,210 acres) between Bhubaneswar and Khurda. Out of the total land, there will be a processing area of 4,300 acres, which will house IT/ITes (enabled services), electronics hardware manufacturing (EHM) and research and development (R & D) centers.

The state government had submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity), Government of India, on April 13, 2010 for setting up of ITIR at Bhubaneswar.

“The DPR of the state government was cleared in the meeting of a high power committee under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, on July 6, 2012, where the chief secretary, Odisha made the presentation. All necessary clarification regarding power transmission infrastructure in this ITIR region, to be borne by the state government, has already been sent to Deity dated January 27, 2014. But the approval from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India, has not yet been received,” Pranab Prakash Das, state IT minister wrote to Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister of Communications and IT & Law and Justice.

“I would therefore urge your kind intervention for early approval of this ITIR of the state government by Deity (GoI),” Das urged in the letter.

In a letter earlier this year, the state government had informed the Centre that it would spend Rs 351.12 crore for the required power transmission infrastructure for ITIR in the state. Das is likely to meet the Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on July 7 at New Delhi to brief him on the issue. The total project cost of ITIR is pegged at around Rs 3,700 crore, out of which the Centre will provide assistance of Rs 1,750 crore towards setting up of external linkages.

The proposed IT hub is projected to generate job opportunities for 230, 000 people in IT/ITes and electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) sectors. Similar ITIRs are also planned in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which have already received the Centre's nod. The Centre has recently accorded in principle approval for setting up of an Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) under the EMCs scheme in the state. Deity has sanctioned Rs 96.96 crore grant for this cluster to be developed on 215.76 acres of land.