Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government unveiled a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy, 2018, aiming to attract huge investments besides promoting employment opportunities. It would also help create research parks and encourage start-ups.
“I believe that this policy will address the aspirations of investors, especially IT and ITEs companies, MSMEs, Start-ups etc., by way of provision of Standard Administrative Incentives, Fiscal Incentives, Capital Subsidies, Tax Exemptions, Special incentives, etc., Further, it also has provisions for incubating Start-ups and creation of Research Parks,” Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami who launched the Information Communication Technology Policy, 2018, here on Monday said.
Presenting awards for promoting Green IT industry, apart, the policy ensures Single Window Facilitation for early clearance from the concerned agencies are also part of this new policy.
He said his government would conduct the second Global Investors Meet (GIM) in January 2019 in Chennai to attract investments in various sectors and appealed to the captains of industries present on the occasion to extend their continued support by way of fresh investments in industries and MSME sectors in the State.
“I hope the investments made would automatically lead to speedy development, which would contribute in a big way to further increase the GDP of the State and thereby the standard of living of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said. The government will provide sops including free power for the first two to five years for those starting new ventures.
TN's exports growing at higher rate than national average:
Industry leaders from Tamil Nadu say the State's exports in the segment had been growing at a higher rate than the national average, which was a good sign for industries in the State. The IT industry's average growth rate for India, according to industry body Nasscom, is around seven per cent.
According to the latest policy note for the information technology department, the state government has said that the exports from Tamil Nadu have grown to Rs1,111.79 billion (estimated), up 8.5 per cent from Rs 1,024.15 billion in 2016-17, when they had grown 3.3 per cent from Rs 990.95 billion the previous year. The estimated investment in IT and ITeS grew to an estimated Rs 399.81 billion during 2017-18, from Rs. 367.04 billion the previous year.
The value of information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) exports from Tamil Nadu, southern India's third-largest exporter in the segment in recent times, grew 8.55 per cent in 2017-18 over a year earlier to Rs. 1,111.79 billion. This is a significant pick-up, given that the state, facing a decline since 2014-15, had reported a modest three per cent IT-ITeS export growth rate last year.
Among southern and south-western states of India, Karnataka is the top exporter of IT products and services (worth Rs. 2,025.94 billion in 2016-17) and Maharashtra is second (Rs. 1,215 billion) and Telangana fourth (Rs. 851.76 billion).
