The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday released the new information and communication technology (ICT) policy for 2010-15 with the objective of making the state one of the forerunners in the IT sector in the country by providing industrial-friendly and proactive climate for IT companies to locate, grow and sustain their operations here.
Based on the national projections on the growth rate of the ICT sector made by Nasscom, Andhra Pradesh is targeting Rs 70,00 crore of IT exports from the state by 2015, with a projected annual growth rate of 17 per cent, besides generating direct IT employment to 125,00 people and indirectly to 500,000 by then.
At a press conference here today, state ICT principal secretary Ratna Prabha said the policy had been drafted keeping in view some special focus areas.
These include startup companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), SC/ST entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, animation, gaming and digital entertainment, engineering services, Tier-II and Tier-III locations, promotion of IT incubation facilities at engineering colleges, corporate social responsibility, promotion of women’s participation in the ICT sector, electronic hardware, and egovernance.
“A special and upfront negotiated package of incentives will be offered for mega projects set up by ICT multinational corporations (MNCs) and IT majors. Mega projects are defined as such ICT projects, with present employment of more than 1,000 in the case of IT and 1,500 in the case of ITeS and an annual turnover of over Rs 100 crore for the last three years,” she said.
Prabha said seed money for pilot project implementation of egovernance projects would be Rs 1 crore for software development only. Assistance in preparation of the IT roadmap detailed project report would be up to Rs 10 lakh.
“To offer proactive investor-friendly industrial environment, and to maintain the time-bound consistency in its approvals and support to industry as a step forward, the state government has constituted a business advisory committee under the chairmanship of chief minister K Rosaiah and key stakeholders representing the IT and ITeS industry for advising on IT promotion strategies,” she said.