Odisha to take IT start ups on foreign exposure

In a step to promote entrepreneurship in the IT, ITes (enabled services) and ESDM (electronic systems design and manufacturing), Odisha government plans to take start ups in the sectors on exposure visit.

"As many as ten companies (start ups) with less that annual turnover of Rs 10 crore will be flown to Germany for attending the CeBIT, the largest and most internationally represented computer expo scheduled in March. It will encourage youths to take up the entrepreneurship and generate employment in the state", said an official.

The state government will bear 50 per cent of the airfare as promised in the ICT policy-2014. We have got the approval from the government, he added.

 

CeBIT, the business IT event will be held in Hannover (Germany). This for the first time the state government is taking the IT entrepreneurs on an exposure visit.

It may be noted that state government in its ICT policy aims to achieve a turnover of $4 billion and achieve direct employment of 60000 by promoting 800 IT/ITes and ESDM units.

To promote investments in the emerging ESDM space, the state government has finalized a slew of incentives to be offered to the investors in the sector.

Investors with investment exceeding Rs 200 crore and offering employment potential of over 500 would be entitled to 25 per cent investment subsidy on capital investment subject to a ceiling of Rs 50 crore. Further, if their project is financed by public sector banks, the state government would offer an interest subvention of five per cent, among others. The state IT department has also been renamed as the department of electronics and IT.

The state is now looking to pull more investors in IT and electronics space. A mega hub for IT & electronics has been planned at Naraj near Cuttack on over 700 acres of land. The state is also coming up with an electronics manufacturing cluster (EMC) on 207 acres of land on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.