Poor response to India BPO scheme may dampen Digital India Programme

Of 48,300 seats planned under the scheme, only 13,850, or 28% have been allocated across the country

The India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS), envisaged under Digital India Programme, has evoked poor response from companies for setting up of business process outsourcing (BPO) units in rural areas, thanks to the stringent terms and conditions for availing benefits under the scheme.

Of the total 48,300 BPO seats proposed to be created under the scheme, only 13,850 have been allocated across the country, marking achievement of a little over 28 per cent of the target.

Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the numero uno state with the highest allocations. Against a planned allocation of 8,800 seats to UP, 2,730 seats have already been allotted to bidders under the scheme. UP is followed by Andhra Pradesh where 2,250 seats have been allocated, Tamil Nadu (1,900 seats), Bihar (1,810 seats), Maharashtra ( 1,760 seats).

As per the official website, no seats were allocated in Andaman and Nicobar islands, Dadra ad Nagar Haveli, Goa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Punjab and Jharkhand.

The Government of India had approved India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) under the Digital India Programme to create 150,000 employment opportunities and promotion of BPO/ITes operations across the country to secure balanced regional growth of the IT/ITes industry, with an outlay of Rs 493 crore.

The scheme provides capital support along with special incentives up to Rs one lakh in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

The target was to create 48,300 BPO seats across states and union territories (UTs) based on population percentage as per Census 2011, However, metro cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, NCR and Pune, along with their urban agglomeration were excluded.

"The strict terms and conditions in the request for proposals is keeping the bidders away. We may go for changes in the terms stipulated in the RFP in the fourth ro,und of bidding to attract more quailed bidders." said an official of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) which is implementing the scheme.

As per the official website 4,330 bids were received for 4330 BPO/ITES seats in the third round of IBPS bidding.