Dehradun, 27 August 2006
In a bid to woo IT companies to the state, Uttaranchal is in the process of setting up three Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The three SEZs, including one in the private sector, have received the nod of the government.
With an aggressive policy to attract IT and ITES companies, the state machinery is actively working out means to fulfill their objective to make Uttaranchal stand among the competition of the two and three tier cities.
With the companies eyeing in shifting their base from the major cities to two and three tier cities, the Uttaranchal government is hopeful in bringing the IT investments to the state. The first move comes from the government, with offering incentives to IT companies setting their base in the newly formed state and setting up of the Doon Cyber Tower IT Park.
State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal Limited (SIDCUL), nodal agency for setting up of the Software technology Park of India (STPI) at Dehradun has come up with a number of projects to build the state as the IT destination for the companies.
Alok Kumar, Managing Director SIDCUL said that the New Industrial Policy endorsed by the state government is the first initiative from the government and the bureaucracy.
“According to the IT policy, the companies which will be setting up their operations here will get 100 per cent IT benefits for the term of five years. Uninterrupted power supply and IT benefits will definitely attract the IT companies to set up offices here,” Kumar said.
He said that they are currently looking at small and medium organizations to set up offices here, as the investment cost is low compared to metros.
“Regarding the Internet connectivity, the companies can connect to BSNL, STPI or any private service provider. The state government will provide free bandwidth up to 2 mbps to all IT software companies, IT enabled services companies, BPOs. Uttaranchal with all the advantages will be a ribbon where IT and ITES development is going to take place,” Kumar added.
Speaking about the talent pool in the state, Kumar said that the government has initiated the move by computer literacy to the students under program ‘Aarohi’. The government of Uttaranchal in association with Aptech Computer training is conducting this program.
“We are also setting up a Centre of Excellence at Nainital with special industrial training to students to meet the needs of the IT companies. Microsoft has already started offering the training and IBM is also planning for an eight-month duration crash course within a short time. We are also in talks with HP education services and it is likely to offer the training soon,” Kumar added.
News Source: http://www.ciol.com
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