Maharashtra mulling tax sops for IT industry

PUNE: The government of Maharashtra is considering granting sales tax
concessions to the IT industry to ensure its growth and development in the
state. This was announced by Dilip Walse Patil, minister of state for
information and technology, while inaugurating the four-day annual IT-Tel 2001
exhibition in Pune. "It is necessary to take information technology to the
common man to ensure its rapid growth," the minister said.

The annual exhibition is being organized by the Computer Media Dealers
Association (CMDA) and the Telephone Dealers Association (TELDA) for the sixth
time. Talking about the government effort to take IT to colleges, the minister
spoke about the recent induction of 144 hours computer training program that has
been introduced in state government colleges where presently 1.5 lakh students
and 5,000 teachers are undergoing training. Around 10 lakh students and 50,000
teachers are expected to benefit from this exercise, he added.

Patil also stressed on the role of IT in government in tackling corruption
and bringing in transparency to governance.

The exhibition, which saw local and multinational companies rubbing
shoulders, had some exciting new products on display. While Samsung showcased
its latest models like the SyncMaster 700 IFT, the ML-5000A laser printer and
the ML-5200A, Cache Technologies had major D-Link products on display. Almost
the entire range of Casio products were being exhibited, including its pocket
viewer, calculators, digital diaries, palm tops, and audio systems,