The Hindu Business Line : Policy on IT investment regions soon

New Delhi, Sept. 11 In line with infotech industry’s demand for creation of integrated modern townships in the country, Ministry of Communications and IT has prepared a draft policy on setting up of Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIRs).

According to sources, the Department of IT has already sought views of other ministries and departments including Urban Development, DIPP, Civil Aviation, as also the Planning Commission on the issue, and has received feedback from some of them. “We are waiting for other Ministries to respond, after which we will consider the feedback before preparing a cabinet note,” sources said.

The ITIRs would be larger than IT SEZs in terms of format and include residential, office, commercial space in addition to schools and hospitals. Sources, however, pointed out that the Government is yet to finalise the policy.

“It is envisaged that the State Governments could propose the locations of ITIRs. At this stage the Ministry has not identified the places for setting up of integrated townships in the country,” sources pointed out.

It may be recalled that the IT industry has been calling for strengthening of local infrastructure, with a Nasscom-McKinsey report in 2005 emphasising that India needed to deliver on both basic (power, public transport, international connectivity) as well as business infrastructure (office and retail space, security services).

“Between today (2005) and 2010 we estimate that the IT and BPO industries will have to employ an additional workforce of approximately one million workers near five Tier I cities (New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai), and about 600,000 workers across other towns in India,” it had said.

The report had pointed out that IT and BPO sectors needed at least five new ‘Gurgaon-plus’ and five to seven new ‘Pune-plus’ integrated townships, and noted that the resulting burden on urban infrastructure was likely to be substantial.