Odisha Government gives nod to ‘IT Policy 2022’

BHUBANESWAR, Odisha: The Cabinet of Odisha on Tuesday, July 19, approved the ‘IT policy 2022’ for the next five years to boost investment and employment in the state. 

As per the official statement released after the meeting, the Government of Odisha has been actively working to adopt new IT-led initiatives to transform the governance process in line with the 5T principles of good governance – Teamwork, Technology, Time, Transformation and Transparency.

Under the new ‘IT Policy 2022’, the state government will provide incentives for IT parks and solar power plants. Odisha government will provide a capital subsidy of up to 25 per cent of the capital investment or Rs 20 crores, whichever is lower, and green field IT park projects will be eligible for 100 per cent reimbursement of Stamp Duty, Conversion Fee and Registration Fee. While for the solar power plant, the state government will provide a subsidy of 15 per cent or Rs 25 lakhs, whichever is lower. 

Up to 30 per cent of capital investment or Rs 3 crores will be provided for building and infrastructure, excluding the cost of land to the eligible IT units. They can also get an interest subvention of 5 per cent per annum on term loans subject to the limit of Rs 10 crores per year from the date of commencement of commercial operation, provided that these loans are availed from recognised banks and financial institutions.

Additionally, IT units with over 40 employees will get subsidies for outsourcing their incubation spaces for three years. As per the proposed plan, Rs 1400 per seat per month will be provided for IT parks and incubation centres. While for notified private IT Parks and IT spaces Rs 1000 per seat per month will be provided by the state government.

The state government is also planning to provide exemption in electricity duty and inspection fees for five years. Also, reimbursement will be provided for 30 per cent of the electricity tariffs for the next three years with a maximum cap of Rs 35 lakh per unit.  

In the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) area, state will fully reimburse SGST for five years and seven years in case of non-BDA area on their fixed capital investment.

The new policy also has a framework for recruitment assistance of Rs 10,000 per newly recruited employee domiciled in Odisha, and additional Rs 1000 will be provided for recruiting women, SC/ST and physically disabled people. Eligible units can get a maximum of Rs 10 lakh for a period of three years.

Apart from that, units and industries that are investing in the field of cyber security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Extended Reality (XR), Blockchain, Automation, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) Clean-tech, Edu-tech, Health-tech and other technology will also be eligible for incentives under the new policy.