The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) today approved a proposal to create Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIRs) to boost the growth of IT, IT-enabled services and electronic hardware manufacturing (EHM) units.ITIRs could include new integrated townships, special economic zones and industrial parks. The regions would also have residential area, social infrastructure and administrative services. The units will be built through public-private partnership. State governments will select the developers and co-developers through a transparent bidding process."The ITIRs would be endowed with excellent infrastructure and supported through investor-friendly policies," a cabinet release said today.The government expects such regions to be major magnets for investment, creating employment opportunities and economic growth in the area. It will also enable growth of new townships and dispersal of industry - thus reducing pressure on existing urban centers.Each ITIR is expected to be a specifically notified investment region with minimum area of 40 sq.km. The minimum processing area will be 40% of the total area of the ITIR.
