Agra IT park project runs into fresh hurdle

For Agra, where setting up new industrial units is nearly impossible in view of the stringent pollution norms, the central government’s proposed Software Technology Park (STP) presents the only hope for survival.

But despite Rs 16 crore has been released by the central and the state governments, and several efforts made by the local industrialists and IT specialists in this regard, the STP project is still facing uncertainty due to the lack of coordination between the Agra Development Authority (ADA) and the information technology department of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Earlier, the IT dept had blamed ADA for not being able to allot suitable land for setting up the technology park, which delayed the project by almost two years. And now, the land identified by ADA for the park has been deemed insufficient for the STP. According to ADA sources, the IT dept had demanded land on a nominally priced lease, while the land in question was a commercial plot and giving it away on a long-term lease without realising its actual price was completely out of question.

Sources also claimed that the IT dept has not even made the blueprints of the STP available to the ADA to enable it to assess the actual land requirements for the software park. If the department was ready to deposit the full value of the land along with the STP blueprint, the project could be given a green signal by the ADA.

Rajiv Gupta, former president of the state branch of the National Chamber of Industries and Commerce, said the central government was keen on setting up the technology park in Agra at the earliest and the project had already received an extension this year.

He said that if the STP was established in Agra, it would turn the town into an IT outsourcing hub and would also give rise to new pollution-free industries like photovoltaic-cell and computer components manufacture, giving Agra’s industrial sector a new lease of life.