Govt may rethink on free land for IT firms

The State government is likely to reconsider its policy initiative that promises free land to IT firms (outside Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike limits) on the condition that these firms provide 1,000 jobs per acre.

Speaking to reporters, Minister for information technology S R Patil said that several companies feel that providing 1,000 jobs per acre is not practically possible. The government is mulling over scaling down the bid from 1000 jobs to 500 jobs per acre, he added.

According to the new IT policy of the government (T4 policy - IT, ITES, Innovation Incentive Policy) land would be allotted at the rate of one acre for every 1,000 jobs created. Companies keen on getting the incentive should provide a minimum of 1,000 jobs with salaries of at least Rs 10,000 per person per month for at least two years, the policy stated.

He said IT companies were showing interest to set up shop in tier-2 cities. The government had provided 50 acres of land to Infosys Technologies to set up an IT campus in Hubballi. Infosys will be invest Rs 3,000 crore in the project, he added.

IT project

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation has agreed to provide a loan of Rs 1,000 crore to fast track the Information Technology Investment Region project. The first phase of the project will be completed by the 2020. The project will have the potential to create 12 lakh jobs. The second phase of the mega project would be completed by 2035.
The minister said that the State’s IT exports will cross Rs four lakh crore by 2020.

At present, the exports stand at Rs 1.8 lakh crore. As many as 400 of the 850 research and development units in the IT sector are based in the State, he added.