STPI to invest Rs 100 crore in earth stations

BANGALORE: The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous society under Ministry of Information Technology, has embarked on a Rs 100-crore project to build earth stations for high speed data communication links in 20 secondary towns in India.

The funding of individual earth stations would be undertaken jointly by state governments, central government and STPI. STPI director general Subir Singh said the organization was considering locations including Hubli, Pondicherry, Bhopal, Patna and Srinagar for setting up Software Technology Parks (STPs) which would provide high speed data links and single window clearance to IT companies in India.



"Earlier, the parks were being set up in major cities in India. However, IT companies are now looking at smaller locations as it cuts down substantially on investment in real
estate," he said. STPI, currently in the process of setting up technology parks in Guwahati, Indore and Vizag, Mr Singh said, adding that STPs were currently operational in 13 locations across the country.

STPI is currently in the process of setting up an earth station in Chennai to tap growing opportunities in the IT sector, he added. ''We are setting up an earth station in Chennai as it is fast becoming one of the preferred IT destinations in India. The earth station would be set up with an investment of Rs 5 crore and is expected to be operational by May," he said. STPI is also planning to interconnect its various earth stations across the country, through fibre optics backbone to provide interconnectivity after getting the required permission. 

STPI which aims to become 'ISP of ISPs' by providing international gateway services in India has applied to Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for gateway security clearance. STPI has already set up technology parks in Mumbai, Bangalore, Noida, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Manipal, Pune, Mohali, Jaipur, Gandhinagar, Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram, Mysore amongst others.