STPI to invest Rs 10 crore in incubation facility in Patna

New Delhi: Aimed at promoting entrepreneurs, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) will set up a new incubation facility in Patna with an investment of Rs 10 crore to cater to the needs of IT industry.

The new facility would be operational within 18 months and stimulate creation of direct and indirect employment in the region. IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad laid the foundation stone of the facility. STPI, an organisation under Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), will set up the new 8,000 sq ft facility with an estimated investment of Rs 10 crore for catering to the needs of start-up companies and young entrepreneurs, it said in a statement.

The facility would also act as a resource centre for IT/ITeS exporting units by offering infrastructural facilities like high-speed data communication with uninterrupted data connectivity and other amenities required for development and export of software and services.

The facility would also be used for one of the programmes under Digital India initiative that is indigenous production of IT hardware and software for exports and also to support software product startups. STPI was established in 1991 by Ministry of Communications & IT and focuses on promotion of IT/ITeS exports from the country. Exports by STP units have grown from Rs 52 crore in 1992-93 to Rs 2.73 lakh crore in 2013-14. Out of the 53 STP centres, 46 centres are in tier-II and tier-III locations. STPI had established the Patna facility in 2008.

It has created 11,500 sq ft of hi-tech built up space in three acres of campus at Pataliputra Industrial Area. Software exports from the state stood at Rs 10 crore during 2013-14 with cumulative exports of over Rs 35 crore. The new incubation centre will help promote export of IT software and services from the region assist in development of infrastructure for IT/ITeS industries and overall economic scenario in the region.