Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government proposes to develop Information Technology hubs in small cities;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(d) whether the Government proposes to increase foreign direct investment in this regard; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
Yes, Sir. Government of India (GoI) has taken various initiatives for promoting Information Technology (IT)/ IT enabled Services (ITeS) industry across the country including small cities.
(b): Till date, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous society under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has established 62 STPI Centres across the country for promotion of IT/ ITeS industry. Out of these, 54 STPI Centres are in Tier II/ III cities. List of existing STPI Centres is at Annexure-I.
Further, for creation of employment opportunities and dispersal of IT/ ITeS industry in small cities, GoI had launched India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) & North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS) under Digital India Program. These Schemes provide financial support up to Rs. 1 lakh per seat in the form of viability gap funding towards capital and operational expenditures for setting up of BPO/ ITeS operations. The duration of these Schemes was up to 31.03.2019 & 31.03.2020 respectively to invite bids, however disbursements may continue beyond this period.
(c): Government of India(GoI) has approved 22 new STPI centres in Tier II/ III locations. List of these newly approved STPI Centres is at Annexure-II.
As on date, 246 units have set up BPO/ ITeS operations under BPO Promotion schemes distributed across 27 States/ UTs across the country, providing direct employment to 50,515 persons.
Further, GoI has approved Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS) with total budget outlay of Rs. 95.03 Crore over 3 year period for establishing software product incubation facilities in 12 STPI Centres located in Tier II/ III cities.
(d): Yes, Sir. It has been endeavour of the GoI to put in place a liberal and transparent policy for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), wherein most of the sectors are open to FDI under the automatic route.
(e): As per extant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, 100% FDI is allowed in IT sector under automatic route (except the land border sharing country with India) subject to applicable laws/ regulations; security and other conditions. A total of Rs. 2,93,838 Crore FDI has been committed in Computer Software and Hardware during FY 2018-2021and Rs. 76,068 crore in current financial year till December, 2021.
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Annexure – I
State-wise list of existing STPI centres
S.N. Centre Name State
1 Kakinada Andhra Pradesh
2 Tirupati
3 Vijayawada
4 Vizag
5 Guwahati Assam
6 Patna Bihar
7 Bhilai Chhattisgarh
8 Gandhinagar Gujarat
9 Surat
10 Shimla Himachal Pradesh
11 Jammu Jammu and Kashmir
12 Srinagar
13 Ranchi Jharkhand
14 Deoghar
15 Bangalore Karnataka
16 Hubli
17 Mangalore
18 Manipal
19 Mysore
20 Thiruvananthapuram Kerala
21 Gwalior Madhya Pradesh
22 Indore
23 Bhopal
24 Aurangabad Maharashtra
25 Kolhapur
26 Nagpur
27 Nasik
28 Navi Mumbai
29 Pune
30 Imphal Manipur
31 Shilong Meghalaya
32 Berhampur Odisha
33 Bhubaneswar
34 Rourkela
35 Pondicherry Pondicherry
36 Mohali Punjab
37 Jaipur Rajasthan
38 Jodhpur
39 Gangtok Sikkim
40 Chennai Tamil Nadu
41 Coimbatore
42 Madurai
43 Tirunelveli
44 Trichy
45 Hyderabad Telangana
46 Warangal
47 Allahabad Uttar Pradesh
48 Kanpur
49 Lucknow
50 Noida
51 Meerut
52 Dehradun Uttarakhand
53 Durgapur West Bengal
54 Haldia
55 Kharagpur
56 Kolkata
57 Siliguri
58 Aizawl Mizoram
59 Gurgaon Haryana
60 Agartala Tripura
61 Goa Goa
62 Kohima Nagaland
Annexure-II
List of upcoming STPI centres
State S.N Location
Madhya Pradesh 1 Chhindwada
2 Jabalpur
Punjab 3 Amritsar
Jharkhand 4 Dhanbad
5 Jamshedpur
6 Bokaro
Uttar Pradesh 7 Agra
8 Varanasi
9 Gorakhpur
Kerala 10 Kochi
Arunachal Pradesh 11 Itanagar
Odisha 12 Balasore
13 Sambalpur
14 Jajpur
15 Angul
16 Koraput (Jayepore)
Bihar 17 Darbhanga
18 Bhagalpur
Haryana 29 Panchkula
Gujarat 20 Bhavnagar
Karnataka 21 Davangere
Himachal Pradesh 22 Kangra
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