STPI PLANS SECOND OFFICE IN PUNJAB

Vijay C Roy, New Delhi/Chandigarh
Business StandardSTPI’s only office is in Mohali and more than 250 companies are registered with it.

The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) may set up its second office in Kapurthala (Punjab) soon. According to sources, the feasibility study by STPI officials is complete and a formal notification in this regard is awaited from STPI.

Earlier, the state government had proposed to the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology to set up its second STPI office in Kapurthala. For the proposed IT park, the state government has identified 50 acres of land in Kapurthala. Sources revealed that the feasibility study has been done by the concerned department and if everything materialises, it is likely to give a push to the IT industry in the state.

STPI has a office in Mohali (Punjab) and more than 250 companies located in Panchkula, Mohali and Chandigarh (tricity) are registered with the Mohali centre It is worth noting that the setting up of the STPI Office at Mohali sends positive signal to the Software Industry operating in the country and they decided to expand their operation to Mohali (Punjab).

Besides, the Punjab government has also initiated the process to identify promising land parcels in the state to drive SEZ activity in the IT/ITeS sector to attract investment in the state. Recently, following a brief presentation by Ernst & Young, it was felt that Punjab Infotech, the nodal agency for IT investment promotion in the State, should prioritise projects in areas such as Mohali, Ropar, Kapurthala, Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Ludhiana.

The focus of the government is to clearly identify promising land parcels, which have strong location drivers and are of minimum 25 acres to drive SEZ activity in the IT/ITeS sector, before it approaches the large IT companies to do business in the state.

It is worth noting that the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has estimated a further growth of 32 percent in the total value of the software and services exports in 2008-09 from the Chandigarh capital region (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali).

In 2008-09, the combined software exports is projected to be Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 110 million) with Rs 900 crore from the STPI units and Rs 200 crore from SEZs. In 2007-08, the software and service industry in the region has seen a robust growth and the total value reached to Rs 822.27 crore compared with Rs 560.76 crore during 2006-07, according to Ajay Srivastava, joint director, STPI. Apart from earning precious foreign exchange, the software industry in the region has also given direct employment to 10,000 professionals.