Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has not received any request so far from any software unit for closure due to coronavirus lockdown, a top official said on Monday.
The situation is being monitored in real-time to assess the impact post 'Unlock 1.0', STPI Director General Omkar Rai said.
As many as 4,300 units operate under STPI, most of them are involved in software exports. STPI said it had issued a notification as early as March 11 enabling work-from-home provisions for STP-registered units. Also, exports had continued even during pandemic-triggered nationwide lockdown as companies went live with business continuity plans and work-from-home was adopted on a wide-scale.
Asked if the lockdown had led to any distress among software units in its ecosystem, Rai told PTI that there are no requests so far from STP-registered software units for closure or shut down.
"So far, we haven't received any request for closure by any unit under STPI. We are monitoring this and now that the restrictions have lifted to a large extent, there will be more physical interactions with companies. In another month or so, we will be able to get specific data, including for smaller units, on what is happening on-ground" he said.
On-ground data for the June quarter will start flowing in around July, he said but added that initial reports indicate software units continue to see and cater to demand for digitisation from overseas clients.
"These are export units, and so till such time that export destinations support the contracts, we don't anticipate any problem," he said.
Software Technology Parks of India, is an autonomous society set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 1991, with the objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the software exports from India.
With a mandate to promote software and electronic hardware exports from the country by implementing Software Technology Park (STP) and Electronic Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) schemes, STPI focuses on building an enabling ecosystem to provide single-window clearance services, reliable internet connectivity, incubation facilities and other infrastructure services to encourage software exports from the country.
Rai had earlier stated that the value of software exports by units registered under STPI crossed Rs 46,550 crore-mark during the pandemic-triggered nationwide lockdown, and timely provisioning of business continuity plans and permissions kept operational impact to minimum.
The exports clocked by STP-registered units stood at Rs 4,21,103 crore during FY19, and the figure for FY20, which is under compilation is likely to be higher by 5-6 per cent since the lockdown came in at the tail-end of the financial year.
During the lockdown, Software Technology Parks of India saw 253 new unit registrations and renewals.
The nationwide lockdown was first announced on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. It was first extended till May 3 and then again till May 17. It was further extended till May 31 and now has been extended in containment zones till June 30.
'Unlock 1.0' started in the country from June 8.
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