Goa IT Policy to woo IT industry

GOA: Goa government has announced the long overdue IT policy, which besides giving several sops to the IT industry, also focuses on streamlining the administration for e-governance.

Announcing the policy, Goa IT minister Francisco D'Souza said that the policy has attempted to match the incentives offered by other states to IT/ITES industries so that the prospective industries indenting to invest in Goa are not placed at a disadvantage. However, he added that Goa has an edge over its counterparts due to its inherent strengths such as high literacy and good quality of life.

While enumerating various measures to entice IT industries in the state, D'Souza said that proposals of investment exceeding Rs 50 crore and industrial houses amongst top 20 companies, as per NASSCOM annual listing, will be provided land at institutional rates.

The policy lists number of other incentives such as sales tax exemptions for IT/ITES industry extended by five years, local employment by IT/ITES companies to be rewarded to the extent of 30 percent of salary, Stamp Duty reimbursement to IT/ITES units operating in IT designated areas, Higher FAR to IT/ITES units in IT designated areas, Preferential Power Tariff for IT/ITES to be announced to the industry that requires service levels of 99.99 percent uptime.

The policy further states that the domicile requirements will be relaxed for children of employees of IT/ITES companies working in Goa in order to ensure growth of the Industry in Goa. Like other states, the IT/ITES units in Goa will be deemed establishments and will be granted exemption from shift restrictions.

Registered IT/ ITES units that avail loans from the State-owned Economic Development Corporation will be reimbursed amounts equal to interest charges payable at the rate of two percent interest on the loan.

There is also institution of 'Outstanding Contribution Award' of Rs 10 lakh each year to IT/ITES industry contributing to the state economy and employment. The government has also expressed its intentions to promote broadband access, connectivity and local Internet exchange to make Goa a plug and play economy.

Setting up of R&D parks, strategic alliances with R&D initiatives and providing seed funding to encourage start-ups for developing indigenous products and services based on R&D are some of the other features in the policy.

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