TN govt seeks Rs 50cr aid from Centre for IT initiatives

The Tamil Nadu government has sought support of the Union government to the tune of Rs 46-50 crore for its IT initiatives.

The Union government's support is sought in three important areas "� rural infrastructure/connectivity, electronic delivery of essential services and Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TN SWAN), a Rs 60-crore project that will establish the backbone connectivity network for the entire state.

TN SWAN is a two-phased project spread over 10 years, which will establish connectivity up to the taluk level.

The state government is also finalising the ITES policy that is expected to be released soon.

Discussing the state's initiatives in attracting more investments in the IT and ITES space, Vivek Harinarain, IT secretary, Tamil Nadu government, said: "Through a government order from the commercial tax department, we have extended a 50 per cent cut in the stamp duty and land registration ITES investments also."

This concession was so far available only for IT investment and has now been extended to ITES too.

Harinarain was addressing the media at a curtain-raiser on the fourth edition of CII Connect-2004, that will be open between September 22 and 25, 2004, in Chennai.

He said that the state government, through Elcot, has allocated 27 acres in Coimbatore for the IT department for developing the city as a Tier-II IT city in the state.

"Large companies like HSBC and Wipro have already evinced interest in setting shop in Coimbatore. The state is also looking at developing Hosur as a major IT/ITES destination in the state," he said.

Connect-2004 is expected to attract 20,000 business visitors and 150 exhibitors. The organisers have doubled the exhibition area to 4,400 sq mt for the fourth edition of CII's Connect.

Ranjit Pisharoty, convenor, IT & BPO Panel, CII-Tamil Nadu, said: "This year, Connect will focus on the domestic enterprise ICT. We will also have over 20 concept zones that will have on display state-of-the-art technology and killer applications in the enterprise ICT segment."

Delegates from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Singapore and Candra are expected to participate in Connect-2004.