NE BUSINESS BUREAU
GANDHINAGAR, FEB 8
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday announced a new IT and ITeS policy to promote rapid and inclusive growth in the IT sector in the state. The new policy also aims to increase Gujarat’s annual exports in the IT sector from Rs.3,000 crore to Rs.25,000 crore and create more than 1 lakh new employments in the IT and ITeS sector, Patel added.
- It will create more than 1 lakh new employments in the IT and ITeS sector.
- The policy seeks to create new growth and employment opportunities by encouraging the industry to invest in scaling up with its unique monetary assistance for both CAPEX and OPEX and other incentives: Experts.
Hon'ble CM launches IT/ITeS policy 2022-2027, aiming at unprecedented growth of IT sector in Gujarat https://t.co/Mro6rcQKH4
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 8, 2022
This new policy will be in force for five years i.e. from 2022 to 2027.
“I strongly believe that this policy will help us contribute significantly to one of the eight dreams of Prime Minister, Narendrabhai Modi – Berozgari semukt, Rozgari se yukt,” the Chief Minister said. He stated that this policy is also aimed at realising the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Gujarat to Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in the Information Technology sector.
ગુજરાતના આઈટી ક્ષેત્રને વિકાસની નવી ઉંચાઈએ પહોંચાડવાનો નિર્ધાર વ્યક્ત કરતા મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલ. pic.twitter.com/2c5V5gq2lZ
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 8, 2022
This IT / ITeS policy (2022-27) is envisioned to transform the state’s information technology landscape in the IT ecosystem of Gujarat. The Chief Minister expressed confidence that Gujarat would become a “Destination of Choice” for the IT ecosystem by strengthening various aspects to make Gujarat one of the leading states in the field of information technology.
IT અને ITeS પોલિસીના માધ્યમથી રાજ્યમાં સુદ્રઢ ઇન્ફર્મેશન ટેકનોલોજી ઇકોસિસ્ટમનું નિર્માણ થશે અને ગુજરાત વૈશ્વિક આઈ.ટી. કંપનીઓ માટે બનશે "ડેસ્ટીનેશન ઓફ ચોઈસ” pic.twitter.com/bhzl1ZvlUQ
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 8, 2022
The Chief Minister said that the Indian IT sector under the enterprising leadership of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has steered our nation to a leadership position in the global IT landscape in terms of employment and economic value creation.
મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલે આજે રાજ્યમાં ઇન્ફર્મેશન ટેકનોલોજી સેક્ટરમાં ઝડપી અને સર્વસમાવેશક વૃદ્ધિને પ્રોત્સાહન આપવાની પ્રતિબદ્ધતા સાથે નવી ગુજરાત IT અને ITeS પોલિસીની જાહેરાત કરી. આ નવી પોલિસી પાંચ વર્ષ એટલે કે 2022 થી 2027 સુધી અમલમાં રહેશે. pic.twitter.com/xoCdG44S2k
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 8, 2022
He further said that the state government has envisaged the creation of a conducive business ecosystem by formulating a robust policy framework and introducing simplified procedural requirements for setting up IT operations in the State.
Explaining the objectives of Gujarat IT/ITes Policy in detail, the Chief Minister said that the objectives are to create high skilled, industry-ready IT talent pool; provide a state-of-the-art IT Infrastructure; develop a unique and simplified incentive scheme; establish a robust cloud ecosystem in the State and foster research & development in new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Quantum computing, Blockchain, etc.
He further said that the new policy also aims to increase Gujarat’s annual exports in the IT sector from Rs.3,000 crore to Rs.25,000 crore and create more than 1 lakh new employments in the IT and ITeS sector.
The Chief Minister also added that Gujarat is striving to get a place in the top five states of the country in the field of IT. He said that the new policy aims to make Gujarat a leader in world-class IT infrastructure, data centers, and the availability of innovation centers in emerging technology.
Department of Science & Technology secretary Vijay Nehra said that the new policy has been developed on the capital expenditure (capex) and operations expenditure (opex) model. “We are adopting a Capex-Opex Model, to provide a simplified and flexible approach towards the industry. So that they can plan the expenditure and turnaround the viability concerns,” said Nehra.
Compared to the previous policy, the financial incentives have been hiked from the previous Rs 1 crore to Rs 100-200 crore based on certain conditions.
With Chief Minister representatives of 9 nationally and internationally renowned IT organizations were also present on the occasion.
Industry heads hail ‘transformational policy’
Welcoming the new IT & IteS policy, Amit Saluja, Senior Director and Centre Head of NASSCOM CoE, Gandhinagar says: ”This is a very transformational policy, and will drive a lot of growth in the IT and ITeS industry in Gujarat. A first of its kind CAPEX-OPEX model has been announced, offering financial support for both CAPEX and OPEX. The policy envisages creation of over 1 lakh jobs in the IT industry over five years and offers many incentives to boost employment generation. Also, the focus on skilling, preparing industry-ready talent, and providing robust infrastructure is a meaningful endeavour to take Gujarat among the top-5 states in the IT industry. The policy will contribute to the growth of IT in non-IT sectors by encouraging greater adoption of technology, and foster R&D in new and emerging technology such as AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain, etc.”
Another expert, Rajiv Bhatia, President & Country Head, Analytix Business Solutions, says, “The Gujarat government has come out with an excellent policy that will play the role of a catalyst in the growth of the IT & ITES industry and enable the state to become one of the Top-5 IT hubs in the country. The policy seeks to create new growth and employment opportunities by encouraging the industry to invest in scaling up with its unique monetary assistance for both CAPEX and OPEX and other incentives. The policy envisages the creation of 1 lakh jobs in the IT/ITES industry in five years, which is a very realistic target. It aims to create a solid IT ecosystem comprising co-working spaces, IT infrastructure, and skilling with a robust policy framework. It also focuses on enhancing the cloud infrastructure and fostering research & development in various new and emerging technologies. We look forward to supporting this excellent policy by adding growth and expansion to our operations in the state.”
