IT sector seeks sops from Kerala govt

The Group of Technology Companies (GTech), an association of IT companies based at Technopark, has urged the Kerala government to initiate measures to cut rentals in the state-run IT parks, amend the IT department policy to allow companies to take up e-government projects and withdraw sales tax on software products.

Speaking to the media, GTech president S Rama Rao said these measures would help the companies expand and create more jobs.

Pointing out that rentals in Kerala were currently at close to 15 per cent more than in cities such as Bangalore and Chennai, he said, “We consider that a rental reduction of about 25 per cent is warranted to retain our competitive advantage.”

The association also wanted the government to remove restrictions on power consumption and roll back the tariff hike. Besides, it urged the government to bring Technopark under essential services to protect the companies from protests and bandhs.

It sought clarity on the legal framework under which Technopark companies operated and wanted the industry to be taken into confidence for fine tuning it. Technopark should be extended the same concessions as special economic zones, the association felt.