North Indian States Get Bitten By Infotech Bug
Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh announce policies in close succession
The information technology (IT) bug seems to have finally bitten the northern region with the governments of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh announcing new policies for the sector within hours of each other.
The Punjab government proclamation held out Mohali, a satellite township of Chandigarh, as "the next IT capital of India", MOhali is the new destination of severl leading software companies, according to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
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Badal launched on Saturday a Rs 20 crore Punjab Infotech Venture Fund at the regional head-quarters of th Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chandigarh, which serves as the capital of both Punjab and Haryana.
The infotech venture fund is promoted by Punjab State Industries Developemnt Corporattion Ltd (PSIDC) acting as the nodal agency of the government of Punjab in association with SIDBI. The government is also planning to come out with venture funds in other upcoming sector such as biotech and food processing industries.
The incentive include 30 per cent capital subsidy on the fixed capital investment, exemption and deferment of sales tax of 10 year, exemption of electricity duty, 25 per cent subsidy in generator set installation and exemption from stamp duty, and registration fee.
To facilitate quick implementation of IT projects, no clearance from the Pollution Control Board would be required and procedures would be simplified and dealt with through a single window system. The goverrnment has also It units in the residential areas of Mohali. "Incen-tive are a step towards providing hassle-free environment to enterpreneurs planning to start operation in the state," said secretarry, industries Ramesh Inder Singh.
"We might be little late in encashing the IT opportunity but I am sure that the dynamic Punjabi entrepreneur is not going to be left behind for long. The fund is a small and humble beginning in this direction. And it is mainly for local entrepreneurs because big companies such as Wipro and Infosys don't require these funds.
And the response has been good. We have already got about 24 proposals. We are also looking at some private venture capital funds," secrretary, industries, government of Punjab, Ramesh Inder Singh told Business Standard.
Prakash Singh Badal's announcement of Punjab's It policy came a day after a Haryana cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chaultala, announced it IT Policy 2000, promising to set up a hi-tech Cyber City spread over 2,000 acres. Its location was not announced. But decated that it would be close to Chandigarh. Chandigrah a Union territory also announced its own IT policy. Punjab Governor J F R Jacob, who is also administrator of chandigarh, said the city aimed to serve as an "ideal IT destination".
In Haryana, the Chautala government promised qulity infrastructure, high speed communication access uninterrupted power supply, clean and hygienic living conidtions hotels and tecreational facilities for Cyber City.
The Haryana cabinet spokesmand said Cyber City woudl be developed in the joint sector by the Harayana Urban Developement Authority (HUDA), Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) and Haryana Electronics Corporation (HARTRON) in association with private players.