Goa IT professionals welcome state IT policy

A new information technology policy unveiled by the Goa government has found support from the Goa Information Technology Professionals (GITP) forum, which has called it a "reasonable start" for kick-starting IT industries in Goa.

In a statement issued here, the GITP, a collective of IT professionals operating out of Goa, also said the policy would help promote startup IT companies, which the forum claimed were otherwise being strangulated by red tape.

"Even though a lot more was expected from this long-overdue IT policy, GITP believes it is a respectable start which can be refined and revised further based on industry feedback and evolving scenarios," the GITP said.

The IT policy, which was unveiled by the Goa government on December 31 last year, offered financial incentives for IT companies as well as an official framework for startup companies.

The objective of the policy, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said, was to promote Goa as a destination for startup companies, something which the GITP claims was not possible in the past considering the red tape in the government.

"Given the existing archaic governmental processes and red tape which have been suffocating IT startups in Goa so far, it is crucial that the processes required to dispense the newly promised financial incentives are streamlined and preferably made available online, and should not cause additional administrative overheads to companies," the GITP said, adding that the new policy would enable bureaucrats to "proactively approach the industry and invite them to invest in Goa".

"We insist that the Goa government participates in every major investment summit/event that promotes business in India, starting with the 'Make In India' week happening next month," the statement also said.