Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government proposes to expand Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Units Scheme to rural areas and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has given approval for India BPO Promotion Scheme for promoting BPO operations across the country and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the details of incentives given/being given by the Government for these BPOs?
(a) to (c): To create employment opportunities and dispersal of IT/ITES industry in small cities and towns including rural areas (excluding metro locations), Government had launched two BPO promotion schemes, namely India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS, launched 28th December 2015) and North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS, launched 30th January 2015). These schemes aim to incentivize setting up of 53,300 seats BPO/ITES operations by providing financial support up to Rs. 1 lakh per seat in the form of viability gap funding for capital and operational expenditure along with special incentives like encouraging employment to women and physically disabled persons, promoting local entrepreneurs etc. The disbursements of financial support are directly linked with the objective i.e. employment generation by the units. Since the inception of these schemes, 257 units have started BPO/ITES operations for a total of 48,519 seats across 28 States/UTs of the country, providing direct employment to approx 34,000 persons. The duration of IBPS and NEBPS was up to 31.03.2019. After review, NEBPS has been extended by 1 year i.e. up to 31.03.2020.
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