Gujarat to refund PF contribution by IT companies

In a bid to attract IT companies to Gujarat, the government plans to refund of provident fund (PF) contribution made by the companies, it was announced Thursday.

Gujarat's Finance Minister Saurabhbhai Patel said the state would come out with a new policies vis-a-vis industries in IT and others before the 'Vibrant Gujarat 2015-The Global Business Hub' event is held in January.

Delivering the keynote address at the roadshow for the event here, Patel told IANS: "For IT companies the major capital outgo is on land and building. We will come out with a policy on refunding the PF contribution made by the IT companies."

Queried whether a similar facility would be extended to manufacturing units, he said the manufacturing units have various subsidies like value added tax (VAT).

According to Patel, the state would come out with a new IT policy in two or three days.

He said the proposed policy for micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) will offer more benefits for the units in this sector.

He said big groups have taken up space for IT related activities in the state at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), developed as a global finance hub.

Patel said the government will soon come out with a new industrial policy and new sectoral policies for MSME.

Answering questions from the audience, Patel said the state had given permission for de-notification of special economic zones as the segment turned unattractive owing to changes in the tax policies of the central government.

"We have given our nod for de-notification of SEZs as our focus is on encouraging manufacturing in the state."

Patel said the government planned to make Gujarat a textile hub.

To a question on wheeling surplus power to Tamil Nadu, he said the lack of transmission facilities had forced the state to back down on power generation to the tune of around 5,000 MW.

"So the focus is on manufacturing sector to generate and use the power. Once the grid connectivity is there, we can enter into long term contract to supply power to Tamil Nadu."

Patel said though the state had an installed power capacity of around 23,000 MW, the power need was only around 13,000 MW.

Atanu Chakraborty, principal secretary in the industries and mines department, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the Gujarat event.

He said the exhibition area will be around one million sq feet and over 1,000 companies are expected to showcase their products and services.

According to Chakraborty, over 10,000 international delegates were expected to be present from over 100 countries.