With National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)—the country’s apex body for IT and ITeS companies agreeing to establish an ‘Incubation Center’ here, Chhattisgarh’s new hi-tech administrative capital is set to find a permanent place in the global IT map.
On April 24 this year, the Chhattisgarh Government and NASSCOM also signed a MoU in which NASSCOM has agreed to provide necessary guidance to State’s Information Technology Department for promoting Information Technology and Skill Development of youth in Chhattisgarh.
“Naya Raipur is the best destination for development of Information Technology (IT) based units, because it offers better facilities for such industries than any other State. Chhattisgarh has better IT & Electronics Policy and the Government is determined to develop the IT sector in the State,” Chief Minister Raman Singh had stated while addressing ‘Opportunity Chhattisgarh 2015’ event jointly organised by State Government’s Information Technology Department and NASSCOM here. Singh had stated said that the State Government has a clear policy. ‘In Naya Raipur, 52 sq km area has been earmarked only for IT based units. Single-window clearance system has been introduced.’
He stated that Chhattisgarh is so much prepared that IT companies may start working from tomorrow. We are ready to welcome Information Technology based industries in the State. CHiPS CEO Saurabh Kumar, on behalf of Chhattisgarh Government, and NASSCOM Chairman R Chandrashekhar had signed the MoU.
Singh said in his address to the programme said that State Government is making consistent efforts for promoting investments in IT sector. IT majors in Bengaluru and Mumbai were contacted through NASSCOM, he said.
Singh addressed the representatives of various IT companies at the event while, saying that this event will unleash a new way of opportunities in IT sector. He said that representatives of IT companies should analyse Naya Raipur and IT policy, as this will enhance their confidence in Chhattisgarh.
The Chief Minister said that Naya Raipur is the ‘Smart City’ of 21st century that offers great scope for IT industries. Chhattisgarh churns out 30,000 to 35,000 engineers every year. Several national-level educational institutes including IT and IIIT and NIT have been opened here, he said.
Besides,a number of youngsters of the State are also being trained through livelihood Colleges. Chhattisgarh is the first State in the country to empower youth with legal right to skill development, the Chief Minister said. Principal Secretary, Information Technology and Energy Department Aman Kumar Singh had stated during the event in his address that development of IT sector is on the priority list of the State Government. A separate sector for IT industries has been earmarked in Naya Raipur. Development of IT-based industries will create employment opportunities for youth of state, he said.
NASSCOM Chairman R Chandrashekhar stated that IT-industries will be provided better facilities in Chhattisgarh. He said that IT is one such sector, which has the potential of transforming image of state as well the country. This is the sector offering maximum employment opportunities, he said. In February this year, Chief Minister Raman Singh had invited investors to set up Information Technology units at a lower cost in Naya Raipur.
He was addressing the prominent IT investors in Mumbai. In the programme organised by NASSCOM, Singh had stated that Chhattisgarh- the 26th State of the country, which was formed nearly 14 years back, has created its identity as ‘Credible Chhattisgarh’ in the field of development. He said that State Government is committed to develop IT sector in Chhattisgarh in the best possible manner.
It is noteworthy that 30 big IT companies of India are the members of NASSCOM. After viewing the presentation made by Singh, the entrepreneurs showed keen interest for capital investment in Chhattisgarh. This apart, Naya Raipur is also coming up as a hub for global education as the process for development of Phase-I of the state-of-art campus of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) including its building Raipur will commence shortly.
The Phase-I of the campus is being developed at a cost of Rs296.45 crore with the completion of the works being estimated within a period of two years, they stated. Significantly, the Chhattisgarh Government had been focussing on providing an elaborate platform for various institutions to establish their state-of-art campus in the new administrative capital.
The State Government had also established the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Naya Raipur. The IIIT has been established as a University, under a public-private partnership (PPP) model between the Government of Chhattisgarh and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
The IIIT Board set a target of commencing BTech programmes, with 60 seats each in Computer Science and Information Technology, from academic session 2015-16. It had been decided by the IIIT Board of Governors that IIIT—Naya Raipur would establish an identity for teaching and research in some such specialized areas of IT in which existing IIITs do not have expertise.
In this connection, keeping in view the teaching and research needs for IT applications in the energy and mining sectors, the Board requested NTPC to prepare a preliminary plan for developing IIIT’s capacities and expertise in this direction. The Board also decided that IIIT—Naya Raipur would give particular attention to tailoring the programme to the needs of the IT industry, so that students passing out from IIIT may be employed directly by leading IT companies, without further skill development.
For this, IIIT would establish strong linkage for course development, internships and collaboration with leading IT companies and educational institutions of national importance located in Raipur, among which are included an IIM, an AIIMS, a National law University and an NIT. At the same time, IIIT would make special efforts to attract reputed faculty from academic institutions and experienced Adjunct faculty from industries, so that both the conceptual and experimental sides of students are strong.
The IIIT is now taking systematic steps, right from the first batch of 2015 admitted through the JEE entrance examination, for attracting students securing a higher merit rank to opt for IIIT—Naya Raipur. The Chhattisgarh Government has also identified sites for permanent and temporary campuses for the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Durg (Bhilai) and New Raipur respectively.
The Mentor Institute of the new IIT in Chhattisgarh would be IIT Hyderabad. In the Union Budget Speech 2014-15, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely had announced to set up five IITs in the Jammu, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and five IIMs in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.