Kerala for restoration of STPI scheme

Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy has urged the Prime Minister to restore the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme for the revival of the IT industry in the country.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, which was personally handed over during his meeting in New Delhi recently, Chandi said that the STPI scheme was one of the reasons for the success of the Indian IT industry and its discontinuation deprived several IT companies, especially those in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, financial means to fund growth.

The current global economic meltdown added to the woes of several small and medium companies and hence a strong case exists for the restoration of STPI scheme at least for the units in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities in India.

 

Over 60 per cent of the entire spending of software companies relate to employee salary which are taxed and an additional levy in the form of corporate tax leaves very little for IT units in the SME sector to re-invest, increase headcount and grow, something which is absolutely critical to remain globally competitive.

The chief minister added that every direct employment in the IT industry lead to four indirect jobs getting created and hence restoration of the scheme will be a major step in promoting inclusive growth in India.

The chief minister had earlier received a representation in this regard from the Group of Technology Companies (GTech).