Chavan seeks IT industry’s help to remove regional imbalances

Maharashtra on Tuesday sought the IT industry’s help in removing regional imbalances by way of focussing on cities other than Mumbai and Pune.

“IT is the only industry which generates a lot of employment. I look forward to this industry to help remove the regional imbalance issues which we face in Maharashtra and see that other districts in the state also get a lot of opportunities,” Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, said at the NASSCOM Leadership Summmit here.

New destinations such as Nashik, Aurangabad and Nagpur are emerging rapidly, Chavan said, adding, “we have the talent, we have the people who would be extremely useful.”

Chavan said that both India and Maharashtra, in particular, had a lot of potential.

“We need a lot of support from industry,” the Chief Minister said.

Stating that Maharashtra was the first state in the country to have formulated its own IT policy, Chavan said that the policy has recently been revised to suit the needs of the industry.

He also said that the state offers a number of sops to industry for the promotion of the IT sector including exemptions in stamp duty and industrial power tarrifs to those who intend to set up IT and ITeS parks in the state.