Hyderabad: The vital Look East policy of the Telangana state government which is supposed to transform the city for the better, is still awaiting the Cabinet approval.
Though the final draft was ready by May 2018, the series of elections and the delay in cabinet expansion has delayed the announcement of the policy, which will expand the IT corridor to the east and shift at least 20,000 employees. It will also eventually ease traffic congestion in the western part of the city, which is a major cause of concern at present.
According to information technology (IT) department officials, the Look East policy is divided into four components — developer benefits, unit benefits, anchor, and infrastructure development.
The vital infrastructure development component is at the bottom of the list. Under developer benefits, incentives such as waiving development fee and impact fee and immediate conversion of land from industrial to IT are offered and the developer can avail the benefits like developing the available land into IT and non-IT in 50:50 ratio, where the land owner or the investor can commence commercial activity on 50 per cent of the land available.
Under unit benefits, builders or investors will be given 25 per cent on rentals, 25 per cent rebate on electricity bills, 25 per cent government discount on metro monthly passes, free internet services and assistance in recruiting employees.
Under anchors incentives, packages and custom packages will be provided to investors and recruiters, which can be negotiated with the government.
Principal Secretary, IT department, Jayesh Ranjan, said that the draft proposal has been orally communicated to the state government, which suggested a few changes.
Mr Ranjan said that the final draft with the suggested changes will be sent to the government at the earliest and will require Cabinet approval.
