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How Bihar is rolling out the red carpet for the IT sector

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Amitabh Srivastava
Amitabh SrivastavaSep 20, 2017 | 15:16

How Bihar is rolling out the red carpet for the IT sector

Not long ago, Bihar looked inextricably linked to Lalu Prasad’s punchline — "Yeh IT-YT kya hota hai”— a scornful stroke with which the RJD boss once shunned information technology. Majority of students still move to other states for higher education, and Bihar’s IT professionals are forced to look outside as the IT sector has largely stayed out of the state. But time appears to have changed the mindset — and for good.

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Over the years, while Lalu succumbed to the charm of cyberworld, it was his friend-turned-foe, chief minister Nitish Kumar, who last week rolled out an ambitious vision to attract investors, seeking them to put their money in information technology, IT-enabled services (ITes) and electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) in Bihar. As a quid pro quo, Nitish also extended wide-ranging sops to attract industries in these sectors, as he made an appeal to entrepreneurs, asking them to set up their units in Bihar.

While speaking at the IT and ITes Investors Conclave 2017 in Patna on September 14 — attended by over 200 senior representatives from leading companies such as Microsoft, HP, Dell, and Idea — Nitish, an electrical engineer himself, spoke about the huge and untapped possibilities that the state has for the IT sector.

The state government had organised the show in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister for electronics and IT, and Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the IT portfolio in the state, were also present at the event.

Sushil Modi, known as one of the most tech-savvy politicians in Bihar, also made a pitch for transforming the state into an IT destination. Modi said that Bihar’s IT and ITes policy will have four clear priorities: promoting knowledge-based economy, breaching the digital divide between rural and urban areas, developing the state as the next investment destination in IT, and bringing tech-enabled reforms.

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No wonder, to begin with, the government wants to impart digital training to 20,000 Jeevika Women self-help group workers to make them IT-enabled.

"The people of Bihar are honest, hardworking and diligent. We also have released IT, ITes and ESDM vision statement. You all are welcome to establish industries here and let me assure you (entrepreneurs) will not face any problem,” Nitish said. The Nitish government will also amend the state’s industrial policy with regard to the IT sector. From now on, hardware or software industries with an investment of at least Rs 5 crore and more than 50 people engaged in core activities will be accorded top priority.

The government has also decided to offer special concessions to those units whose investment process gets completed within three years. To begin with, sops ranging from state tax holidays to grants will be offered to those for hiring local talents.

The Nitish government has already earmarked 100 acres of land near Nalanda University in Rajgir where the development of an IT city is on the cards. Besides, an IT park will come up at Bihta on the outskirts of Patna whereas "IT towers" would come up in the state capital. Nitish is said to be particularly keen on the IT sector, as he believes that increasing use of IT and ITes will bring transparency in delivering government schemes and help set up effective monitoring systems, besides curbing corruption.

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So bullish is Nitish on the developments that he asked Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to pick a suitable plot to set up a state-of-the-art institution under the leadership of CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) for training in digital forensics, digital policing and cyber security. The IIT Patna will serve as a knowledge partner for Centre. Time to stay hopeful.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Last updated: September 20, 2017 | 15:16
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