Punjab: Land banks to be created for IT sector

Chandigarh, Nov 3: In order to attract IT/ITeS investors to Punjab, the state government will focus on creating land banks and world class IT infrastructure and also enact a State SEZ Act and Industrial Estate Maintenace Act. "Proactive facilitation and support will be provided to investors by strengthening support services", state Secretary Industries S S Channy said here.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Dr Channy said that the IT policy will lay emphasis on improving quality and employability of manpower through skill development. The thrust will be on policy implementation through capacity building and regular monitoring, he added.

The state governments IT policy lays stress on clear accountability in terms of responsibilities, short-medium term milestones and 90-day action plans to clear proposals of investors, he said. " We will have a Vision Group, Action Group and Task Forces to implement the strategy and monitoring progress on desired outcomes", he added.

Refering to investor relations, Dr Channy said that Punjab Infotech will be the one-point contact for investors. There will be time bound redressal of queries and complaints, he added while also making a refernce to after care services for current investors.

There will be a Mega Projects Policy for IT Park and IT/ITEs units where investment exceeds Rs 25 crore and the employment targets is above 505. Then there will be a Super Mega Industrial Park Policy where the investment exceeds Rs 750 crore.

Dr Channy said that the Industrial Facilitation Act, 2005 provides for speedy implementation of industrial projects by providing single point clearance. The clearance of all projects will be through single window system and application forms will be avaliable online.

Regarding the avaliability of IT manpower in the state, Dr Channy said that besides a number of reputed IT and engineering institutes in the state, the government has already introduced computer education as a compulsory subject in schools for grades 6-12. The government has also embarked upon a plant to popularise science and maths in primary education.

Regarding the avaliable of IT/ ITeS Infrastructure, Dr Channy said that Quark City at Mohali on 43 acres was the first notified as SEZ in Punjab. Besides there is the Eltop Complex at Mohali (289 acres) and the InfoTECH complex at Mohali is spread over 15.5 acres. Then there is a plant to set up an IT Tower at Mohali offering more than five lakh sq ft to companies.

The government plans to set up the Mohali-type infrastructure at Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala, he added. Then there are plans for development of an IT SEZ on 250-300 acres of land adjoining the upcoming IIT at Roopnagar.

There is also a proposal for setting up SEZ/BPO Park at Kapurthala at the 226 acres Industrial Focal Point.

Regarding the basic and support infrastructure, Dr Channy said that the state has one of the best road networks.Then there is the International Airport at Amritsar with over 100 flights a week and the proposal for the Mohali internnational airport was in a advanced stage.

The Punjab Industrial Development Board has committed over Rs 20,000 crore to key infrastructure projects. Punjab will be a power surplus state with 12, 744 MW of capacity addition in the next five years, he said while also pointing to the hotel and medical facilities that are already avaliable.

The New Industrial Strategy of the state will emphasis on knowledge sector and the IT/ITeS sector has been listed as the key driver of higher growth, he added. After the success of STPI, Mohali (1998) the state is getting another STPI centre in Kapurthala, he added.

IT exports from Punjab in 2007-08 stood at eight million US dollars and the government was targeting a figure of 4.6 billion dollars by the year 2018, the Industries Secretary added.

UNI