Draft IT Policy Govt of Gujarat 2014-2019. Friends any suggestions, any missing, any corrections pls share your views. Its as following if attachment is not available. ----------------------------------------------------- 1 Draft IT Policy for the State of Gujarat (2014-2019) 2 PREAMBLE In the last few decades, IT/ITeS industry has emerged globally as a key driver of growth and is a large industry employing millions of people across continents. Today, in such a short span of time, Information Technology has become an integral part of almost all industries in the world. Apart from industries, it has also penetrated into all walks of life making it impossible to think of a world without Information Technology. 2. Indian IT & ITeS industry has been a consistent growth driver for the Indian economy over the last two decades. It has shown enough resilience even during one of the most troubled periods in the last few years, when most developed countries faced one of the worst financial crises in recent times. It has been increasingly contributing to the countrys GDP, employment and exports. 3. There has been an increasing recognition of the importance of policy initiatives, enabling legislation and conducive regulatory environment in facilitating growth of economic activity. Simultaneously, there has been a growing realization that economic growth helps governments in achieving various objectives, including (but not limited to) poverty alleviation, employment generation and mobilization of financial resources for important programmes of the government in the social sectors comprising education and health. 4. The IT & ITeS sector has also been a major contributor to the Service Sector of the Indian Economy. The contribution of the Sector to India’s GDP has increased from 1.2% in FY 1998 to 7.5% in FY 2012. According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM): IT–BPO sector in India has aggregated revenues of US$100 billion in FY 2011-2012, with export and domestic revenue of US$69.1 billion and US$31.7 billion respectively, indicating growth of more than 9%. The industry also provides direct employment to about 2.8 million people and indirect employment to about 9 million in the associated sectors. 5. National IT Scenario The National Policy on Information Technology, 2012 (NPIT- 2012) seeks to achieve the twin goals of bringing the full power of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within the reach of people of whole of India and harnessing the capability and human resources within the country to enable it to emerge as an important Global Hub and destination for IT and ITeS by 2020. NPIT-2012 has set the following major objectives: To increase revenues of IT & ITeS Industry from the present USD 100 billion to USD 300 billion by 2020 and expand exports from the present USD 69 billion to USD 200 billion by 2020. To create a pool of 10 million additional skilled manpower in ICT To gain significant global market- share in emerging technologies and services. 3 6. Gujarat IT Scenario Gujarat has taken a few significant strides in the field of IT during the last decade, especially in the adoption of modern technology for governance. Gujarat has proved and shown that the power of technology can be harnessed to act as a force multiplier in addressing the current challenges in the fields of agriculture, education, healthcare, energy, industry, telecommunication, rural development, tourism, textile, etc, in general and ensuring balanced equitable and inclusive growth and development, in particular. Gujarat is one of the most investor-friendly States in the country. Gujarat has one of the highest tele-densities in the country Gujarat is one of the most e-governed States in the country Gujarat has an excellent physical infrastructure with a strong and conducive ecosystem for industries. Gujarat also has Vibrant Tier II cities (Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Mehsana, Jamnagar and Surat) with advantages like availability of low-cost skilled resources, low real estate cost and low employee attrition. In the backdrop as above, the new IT Policy of the State Government has been under active consideration for some time. Taking into account the overall scenario and prevalent policies and after detailed deliberations as also careful consideration, the New IT Policy (Draft) is outlined as under: I. VISION It is envisaged to unfold the infinite potential of the Equation: IT + IT = IT, that is, Indian Talent + Information Technology= India Tomorrow to create and build a vibrant and sturdy edifice of IT/ITeS Eco-system on the basis of Innovation and Knowledge Capital, to utilize the huge talent pool of Young India and to contribute to the overall economy and prosperity of the State and the Nation. II. MISSION 1. Enabling Information Technology for all sections of society It is aimed:- a. to leverage Information Technology as an enabler and catalyst for the socio-economic development of the State. b. to attract and promote IT and ITeS companies that provide product or services for urban and rural markets to ensure that overall regional balance is achieved and maintained, thereby effectively bridge the digital divide. 4 2. Facilitating MSMEs as key drivers of Growth a. to become a preferred IT destination for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). 3. Aiming for Excellence in Innovation, R&D and Entrepreneurship a. to seed educational and R&D institutions with required IT infrastructure for promoting innovation and excellence. b. to promote entrepreneurship and to create equitable employment opportunities for different sections of the society across different geographical regions. 4. Forging powerful Global Partnerships a. to forge partnerships in emerging technologies with leading IT/ITeS Organisations / Agencies in the world to promote the sector in the state. 5. Empowering youth through ICT Skills a. to significantly enhance quality and availability of IT skilled manpower. b. to establish knowledge based economy in the State. 6. Making Gujarat a preferred destination for Global Knowledge Workforce and Industry a. to achieve higher level of domestic and export revenue turnover resulting in enhanced productivity and augmentation of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). b. to provide proactive, congenial and industrial-friendly climate conducive for IT companies to flourish in a most competitive and efficient manner. III. OBJECTIVES The key objectives of this Policy during the policy period of five years are: 1. To increase the current investment in IT/ITeS sector by 5 times 2. To increase the turnover to Rs. 75,000 crore (USD 15 Bn). 3. To increase IT exports from the State to Rs. 5000 crores. 4. To promote and develop employment opportunities in the IT and ITeS and provide direct employment to 10 lakh persons. 5. To focus on Financial Services, Mobile Applications, Animation, 3D, Gaming & Digital Entertainment IV. DEFINITIONS 5 1. “IT Software means any representation of instruction, data, sound, and image including source code and object code recorded in a machine, readable form and capable of being manipulated or providing interactivity to use by means of automatic data processing machine falling under head IT Products. 2. IT Service is construed as any service which results from the use of any IT software over a system of IT products for realizing the value addition. 3. IT Industry will include development, production and services related to IT products, IT Software and IT service and ITeS. 4. “New IT Unit” means a unit, providing IT Service or part of IT Industry, set up with minimum 20 direct employees on or after the date of this Resolution and having obtained acknowledgement of filing Entrepreneur’s Memorandum (EM) with the concerned District Industries Center (DIC) or Industrial Entrepreneur’s Memorandum (IEM) with Government of India. 5. “Existing IT Unit” means such an IT Unit, registered as an IT unit with minimum 20 direct employees and already commenced its operations before the date of issue of this Resolution. 6. “Expansion and/or Diversification” means an existing enterprise taking up ‘expansion and/or diversification’ with or without forward/backward integration, with investment more than 50% of its existing gross fixed capital investment on date of initiating expansion/diversification and commencing operations of the said expansion/diversification during the operative period of the policy and, which shall also have in-built implications of increase in additional employment by minimum 50% of existing employees or by 20 additional direct employees. 7. Eligibility:- a. All new/existing units as defined in Para IV (4) and (5) above will be eligible for availing incentives under this scheme. New units will also get benefit for one time expansion or diversification during the operative period of this scheme. Existing units will get benefit of expansion/ diversification during the operative period of this scheme. 8. IT Enabled Services (ITeS) will include the following: a. Call Centres b. Medical Transcriptions c. Back Office Operation/Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/ Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) d. Revenue Accounting and other ancillary operations e. Insurance claim Processing f. Web/Digital Content Development g. Financial and Accounting Processing h. HR & Payroll Processing i. Bioinformatics 6 j. IT enabled banking, non-banking services including insurance, pension, Asset Management and market related services. k. Depository and Security registration and dematerialisation services 9. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) A unit, which satisfies the conditions of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises as per the definition under the MSME Act, 2006 amended from time to time, and having an acknowledgement of Entrepreneurs Memorandum filed with respective District Industries Centre, shall be termed as Micro, Small or Medium Enterprise, as the case may be. 10. Any other term or terminology not specifically defined hereinabove shall have the same meaning as per the definitions mentioned in the Government of Gujarat Industrial Policy, 2009. V. INCENTIVES 1. Facilitation for Allotment of Land: The Government will duly facilitate allotment of land for IT/ITeS industrial houses investing considerably in the State for opening up their full-fledged offices in the State. Allotment of Government lands to the IT/ITeS Industry shall be subject to availability, fulfilment of certain eligibility criteria by the applicant IT/ITeS Company and on payment of land cost & development cost, as determined by the State Govt. and /or the allotment agencies from time to time. 2. Mega IT/ITeS Projects Projects capable of creating fresh employment of more than 1000 persons in the case of IT unit and 1500 persons in the case of ITeS unit and fresh investment of Rs.50 Crores (excluding cost of land) and above will be construed as Mega IT/ITeS Project. A special package of incentives will be offered on a case to case basis for Mega IT/ITeS Projects. 3. Development of IT/ITeS Technology Park Financial Assistance to IT/ITeS Technology Park will be provided as follows: 7 3.1 IT/ITeS Technology Park with minimum area of 25 acres will be provided financial assistance @50% of fixed capital investment in buildings & infrastructure facilities, excluding the cost of land with a ceiling of Rs.2.5 crores. 3.2 The developer of IT/ITeS Technology Park availing of incentive under this Scheme will not be eligible to avail of the same or similar incentive under any other schemes of the State Government for this purpose. However, the up-coming units in the IT/ITeS Technology Park will be eligible to avail of incentives under separate schemes of the State Government. 3.3 The developer of IT/ITeS Technology Park, as notified by the Government, will be eligible for exemption from payment of Stamp Duty/Registration Fee/Conversion Fee on purchase of land in accordance with the Governments prevailing policy as per the standing orders of the State Revenue Department on the subject. 4. Registration/Stamp Duty Concession: All new IT/ITeS units will be eligible for 100% reimbursement of Stamp Duty and Registration Fee on sale/lease/transfer of land deeds in the case of first transaction only. 5. Lease Rentals Financial Assistance of up to 25% on lease rentals will be provided for the plug-and-play built up office space ranging from 1,000 sq ft to 5,000sq ft leased by new IT/ITeS units in any IT Park with minimum area of 25 acres, the assistance would be provided in two stages in two equal installments, one at the beginning of the commercial operations and the second stage after 5 years in operation subject to a ceiling of Rs.25 lakhs per eligible unit. 6. Employment Generation Grant on EPF After the implementation of this Policy, IT/ITeS unit will be entitled to the reimbursement of the incentive amount equivalent to the EPF amount paid to the new employees for a period of five years from the date of employment, subject to a ceiling of Rs 5 lakhs per unit. 7. Electricity Duty Exemption and Industrial Tariff for IT/ITeS New IT/ITES units, after coming into commercial operation will be entitled to the following benefits:- 8 7.1 100% exemption on electricity duty for a period of five years or Rs. 30 Lakhs, whichever is earlier from the date of commencement of operation. 7.2 Supply of electricity at Industrial Tariff to IT/ITeS units will be suitably considered in consultation with the State Energy & Petrochemical Department. 8. Special Economic Zone Status(SEZ) The State shall facilitate the obtaining of SEZ status by IT parks subject to the provisions of SEZ Act/Rules. 9. Assistance to IT/ ITeS MSME Units In keeping with the ‘Scheme for Assistance to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) vide Govt. Resolution Industries & Mines Department No. MSM/102009/57928/I dated 27/2/2009, the following Incentives shall be offered to IT/ITeS MSMEs: 9.1 Interest Rate Subsidy for IT/ITeS MSMEs All MSMEs (as per definition of MSME in this GR) will be eligible for Interest Subsidy for setting up a new unit or expansion or diversification or modernization in the existing unit as per following parameters:- a. Graded interest subsidy for micro, small and medium enterprises. Interest Subsidy @ 7% for micro enterprises and @ 5% for small and medium enterprises. b. Interest subsidy not available for penal interest or other charges. c. 1% additional interest subsidy to SC/ST/Women/Differently abled/youths less than 35 years of age in case of first project. d. Maximum amount of interest subsidy will be Rs. 25 lakhs per annum for a period of five years. e. Unit availing of term loan from any bank/Financial Institutions (FI) approved by RBI will be eligible for such interest subsidy which shall be paid to the Bank/FI with intimation to the unit. f. Unit applying within one year of loan disbursement, from the date of the first installment will be eligible. g. If the unit becomes defaulter in repayment to Bank/ Financial Institutions, default period will be deducted from the period of five years. h. Disbursement will be made only after the unit starts commercial operation. 9.2 Quality Certification Any IT/ITeS unit registered in Gujarat will be granted assistance for a maximum of three industry standard quality certifications (CMMI, ISO, etc), at a rate of 50% of cost of quality certification within the overall ceiling of Rs. 6 lakhs in 5 years. The amount of assistance will include:- 9 a. Fees charged by certification agency b. Consulting fees and training charges 9.3 Technology Acquisition Fund Assistance for acquisition of appropriate technology in any form to a group of at least 10 MSMEs for a specific product/platform will be provided by way of 50% grant subject to a maximum of Rs. 1 cr. per technology including royalty payments for the first two years. 9.4 Skill Enhancement Assistance will be provided to MSMEs with minimum 20 on-roll employees at the rate of 50% of fees, subject to maximum Rs. 10,000 (Rupees Ten thousand only) per employee on obtaining industry recognized certification such as .Net certifications, Networking certifications, Project Management, etc after implementation of this policy. The assistance under this category will be with a ceiling of Rs. 1 lac per year per unit. If necessary obtaining help of it is/Gujarat Knowledge Society (GKS) for implementation of this incentive will be appropriately considered at a later stage. 9.5 Support to R&D Institutions Need based support will be provided to R&D institutions set up with the State Government approval. Apart from new R&D institutions, testing facilities, incubation centres, etc. will also be covered. The assistance will be up to 60% of the project cost excluding land and building. 9.6 Patent Assistance a. Assistance at the rate of 50% subject to a ceiling of Rs.10 lakhs (Rupees Ten lakhs only) for meeting with the expenditure for obtaining domestic patents by any IT/ITeS unit/ institution. b. Quantum of assistance can be enhanced to Rs. 25 lakhs for international patents by a Company. c. Fees paid to patent attorney and patent service centre will be included d. Maximum five patents per unit over a period of five year will be eligible. 9.7 Market Development Support a. Assistance to MSME units for participation in International Trade Fairs outside India at the rate of 50% of total rent, literature and display material subject to a ceiling Rs. 2 lakhs, once in one country in a five years. The unit should not participate in an individual capacity, but only as a part of the Industry Association which would participate in such trade fairs. The assistance will be by way of reimbursement. MSME units shall have to apply within six months from the date of participation for the assistance. 10 b. Assistance to Industry Associations @ 50% of total rent subject to a ceiling of Rs. 10 lakhs for participation in International Trade Fair as Gujarat Pavilion outside India for participation by minimum 5 units such assistance shall be in the form of reimbursement. c. Viability Gap Support to Industry Associations for organizing National Seminars/Exhibitions in Gujarat, subject to a ceiling of Rs.4 lakhs and for organizing International Seminar/Exhibition in Gujarat subject to a ceiling of Rs. 8 lakhs. d. Assistance for setting up of Convention Centre/Trade Centre by Industry Associations at the rate of 50% of project cost up to Rs. 5 crore excluding land cost once in a period of 5 years. 10. Simplification of Labour Laws 10.1 The regulatory regime of labour laws has been simplified to suit the needs of IT & ITES companies. General permission is granted to all IT & ITES companies to have 24x7 operations/to run in three shifts. Since the barriers pertaining to employment of women at night have been removed, the companies will be instructed to offer employment to women with adequate security to them for working at night. The IT & ITeS companies will be permitted to self-certify that they are maintaining the registers and forms as contemplated and prescribed under the following Acts: a. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 b. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 c. The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 d. The Contract Labour (Regulations and Abolition) Act, 1970 e. Employees State Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2010 f. Bombay Shops and Establishment Act g. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 h. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 i. Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 j. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 k. Employment Exchange Act, 1959 l. The Factories Act, 1948 m. Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 11 The Self Certification-cum-Consolidated Annual Returns Scheme has been issued by Labour & Employment Department vide GR No. FAC-2003-3043-M(3) dated 05.12.2005. 11. Special Incentive to set up premier IT Institutes The State Government is committed to duly facilitate the opening of premier IT institutes on the IIIT Model and will accordingly encourage eminent ‘IT Companies/Foreign Universities’ to set up premier IT institutes in Gujarat. Government of Gujarat will offer incentive package to open up premier IT institutes on a case-to-case basis. For Industry-Institute Working arrangements, the following activities will be incentivised for development of Premier IT Institutes Incubation Centres R&D Centres IT/ITeS Development Centres IT/ITeS Support Service Operations 12. Subsidy on Bandwidth for Connectivity (for BPOs/KPOs) 30% subsidy on Bandwidth for connectivity paid to Internet Service Provider (ISP), subject to maximum of Rs. 5 lakh per annum, shall be available for a period of two years from the date of starting commercial production/operation. The subsidy amount will be determined on the basic Bench Mark prices to be declared by M/s Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL) separately. 13. Exemption from Zoning Regulations 13.1 IT/ITES Units/Companies and IT Parks/IT Campuses notified by the Department will be suitably considered for exemption from the Zoning Regulations, subject to ensuring environmental safeguards, and the payment of conversion charges under the provisions of the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976 as applicable for the location of IT/ITES Units/Companies as stipulated under the Revised Building Rules of Urban Development Department and amendments from time to time, based on the following terms and conditions: 12 13.2 The conversion / exemption from land use zoning regulations for setting up of IT/ITES Units/Companies/IT Parks/IT Campuses shall be considered only in the following notified land uses in the Master Plan /Zonal Development Plan/ Town Planning Scheme: a. Residential use zone b. Commercial use zone c. Institutional use zone/Public & Semi-public Use Zone d. Industrial use zone e. Conservation / Agricultural use zone 13.3 The conversion / exemption from land use Zoning Regulations as above shall be applicable to the IT/ITES Units/IT Parks/IT Campuses which are notified by the Department. 13.4 IT/ITES Units/Companies/IT Parks so notified by the Department will be exempt from payment of conversion charges. VI. INVESTOR FACILITATION The role of the Government of Gujarat will be that of a facilitator. A highly empowered ‘Single Window Clearance Committee’ will be created and operationalized for granting approvals and clearances for setting up New Units in the State. It will be supported by ‘state-of-the-art centralized helpdesk call centre’ on 24x7 basis. M/s Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL) will act as a Nodal Agency for hand holding and providing effective liaisoning with various Government Departments/agencies/bodies. For this purpose, GIL will nominate one Investor Relationship Officer/ Manager for each IT Mega project including IT Parks. VII. POLICY PERIOD This Policy shall come into force with effect from the date of issue of the GR and shall remain in force for a period of five years or till the declaration of a new or revised Policy. This Policy will be reviewed, if necessary, after a period of two years with reference to the intended outcome, actual performance and financial implications and amendments if required will be issued by the Department of Science & Technology. VIII. AMENDMENTS/ORDERS In pursuance of and consonance with this Policy, necessary detailed orders, as and where required, will be issued by the respective Administrative Departments for the subjects related to them. 13 IX. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION Industries Commissionerate (IC)/Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) will implement this Policy till the new Directorate of IT is formed. New/Existing units will be eligible to avail of incentives either under Industrial Policy, 2009 (as extended from time to time) or under IT Policy (2014-19) in such a way that there is no duplication of any particular benefit.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:09:13 +0000
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