Top rank is Telangana aim in IT push
State's new IT policy with 10-point agenda will make it an undeniable place for IT companies.
Hyderabad: Telangana has charted a new IT policy comprising a 10-point agenda positioning the new state as an unavoidable destination for IT companies from domestic and overseas markets. Telangana is hoping to become the leading state in IT exports surpassing Bengaluru shortly.
The government is anticipating doubling of IT exports to Rs 1.2 lakh crore in the next five years. As part of the new IT policy, the proposed 10-point agenda includes several attractive sops and incentives to encourage domestic and global IT companies to set up operations in Telangana.
The sops cover a gamut of incentives such as allotment of government land, power, registration, patent filing costs and quarterly certification. It may be recalled that Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) recently made a forecast of $50 billion exports from Hyderabad by 2025.
Software exports from Hyderabad are estimated to be Rs 64,000 crore for the current fiscal of 2015-16 as against Rs 57,000 crore in 2013-14. With 31 per cent share in India’s IT exports, Bengaluru tops the list, while Hyderabad recently surpassed Chennai to make it to the second slot.
Some of the salient features of the IT policy are power tariffs on the lines of the recently-unveiled industrial policy. IT companies will get 100 per cent reimbursement on registration fee for the first time and 50 per cent on the second transaction. IT firms will also get reimbursement of filing costs up to Rs 5 lakh per Indian patent or copyright and Rs 10 lakh on international patent or copyright.
The TS government is also offering reimbursement up to 20 per cent of the expenditure in obtaining quality certifications such as CMM Level 4 onwards. Mega IT projects will be allowed to set up their own renewable power generation units.
About 10 per cent capital subsidy or Rs 20 lakh, whichever is lower, will be available on solar power units with generation capacity of 100 KW or more. Every IT company will also receive Rs 10,000 per employee for minimum annual recruitment of 100 new IT professionals from colleges in Telangana.
The government will also reimburse municipal taxes for the first three years. Infosys founder Narayana Murthy will be unveiling the IT policy in Hyderabad on April 4. IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and his team spent a lot of time and energy on this exercise, even meeting members of the IT industry and all other stakeholders to get their views on board.