By IANS,
Chennai : The Tamil Nadu council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy 2008-09 unveiled by the state government.
With the new policy unveiled Tuesday, the state government has reiterated its growing presence as an ideal ICT investment destination in the whole of south Asia, said Manikam Ramaswami, chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council here Wednesday.
He said the key components of the new policy are definitely in line with the Vision 2011 goals of Tamil Nadu to get a 25 percent share of the Indian ICT economy. The ICT industry has been a major growth driver for the Indian economy in the last couple of years.
Tamil Nadu has been amongst the top three states in terms of ICT investments and has now emerged as a hub for software, hardware and research and development.
ICT production in Tamil Nadu touched a high of $5.7 billion in 2006-07, 11 percent of India’s ICT production ($51 billion).
Appreciating the plan to transform technical institutes into centres of excellence, Ramaswami said the ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu mooted by CII and TN Government is an exceptional PPP model between industry and government to train the trainers.
He also appreciated various other initiatives like setting up of finishing schools for socially and economically weaker sections and standardised industry aptitude tests.
The state government will invest Rs.2.5 billion for expansion of existing IT-ITES facilities in Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts.
As per the new policy, units employing over 100 workers would be eligible for capital subsidy of Rs.3 million and electricity tax exemption for two years.
This exemption would go up to five years if new IT-ITES firms invested Rs.2 billion and employed over 400 direct workers, he said.
The government will also provide tax incentives for investors investing between Rs.50 million and Rs.500 million in the IT sector.