IT park at the New Shillong Township
SHILLONG: The State IT department is banking high on the proposed IT park expected to come up at the New Shillong Township to tap Meghalaya’s ‘vast potential’ in the IT sector.
Talking to a group of journalists here, IT Minister AL Hek said that the department wants to sustain the IT Park and that the Government wants to rope in even the hospitality services into the project.
He said that investors should be given various facilities like exception from taxes, power subsidies and other facilities. “The sustainability of an IT park is dependent on investors and the Government would leave no stone unturned to attract big private players for the project,” Hek added.
It may be mentioned that more than fifteen consultancies have responded to the Expression of Interest floated by the State Information Technology.
According to Hek, the department has already called for the technical and financial bid for the project, and while the procedures of technical bid are over, the financial bid would be opened in the second week of November.
“We want to make a vibrant IT park not a simple IT park, otherwise it will not lead to sustainability,” Hek told reporters while asserting that Government can provide the basic infrastructure to the IT project but its success and sustainability depends on the investors.
Under the project, the Government will set up a huge IT infrastructure in the park where IT companies would establish their business and this would result in huge employment opportunities for the local youths.
Hek asserted that the State has tremendous potential when it comes to the IT sector and the proposed IT park would assert the talent of the youths, thereby creating huge employment opportunity in the IT sector.
The proposed IT Park would have call centres and workshops for all the IT related equipments and other infrastructure to make Shillong an IT destination. Adding that, to make the proposal a reality, eighty acres of land has been allotted to the Information Technology department for construction of the IT Park.