Srinagar, Jammu to get IT Parks, Towers with Plug & Play features

Jammu, Jan 25 (Only Kashmir): The State Administrative Council (SAC) which met here on Friday under the chairmanship of Governor, Satya Pal Malik approved the incorporation of “The Jammu and Kashmir I.T. Infrastructure Development Company Private Limited” under the Companies Act, 2013.
The decision by the SAC is aimed at attracting IT/ITES companies to the State to operate from constructed spaces created by the State and to establish their offices/work facilities on developed land having adequate civic amenities and robust transport connectivity thereby boosting the economy of the State by way of investment, employment and increased economic activities.
With the growth of IT industry and IT enabled Services (ITES), there is a need to undertake IT related infrastructure development in a focused manner in the state. Such infrastructure involves constructed space for being hired out to firms delivering ITES including call centres, outsourcing works, software development, etc. Also, IT Companies establish their offices in areas that have developed amenities i.e., providing residential, recreational and institutional spaces with reliable connectivity to existing and future city centers/transportation hubs.
In both the Capital cities, it is proposed to identify and develop certain areas in the vicinity of cities or in the Metropolitan Region that would act as the basis for planned future growth. For attracting investment to such areas as also to provide adequate infrastructure facilities to I.T. Industry, it is proposed that I.T. Parks/City is planned as a part of it. There will be IT Parks with Towers having the latest facilities to attract world class investment.
Through the IT Parks & Towers, the investors will make full use of the recent extension of the benefits under NE Package to J&K in addition to the existing benefits under Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir (JKIDS), 2017 namely Capital Investment Incentive, Interest Incentive, Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) Reimbursement, Income Tax (IT) Reimbursement, Transport Incentives (TI) and Employment Incentive (EI).
To begin with, a provision of Rs. 20 Crore has been kept in the Annual Budget of 2018-19 with subsequent annual inflows of the same order and it is proposed to leverage it to raise loans of the value of Rs. 200 Crore. This will be used for creating the necessary infrastructure.