In a bid to woo IT firms to tier 2 and tier 3 cities, the government has decided to relax norms related to land allocation. The norm relates to the number of jobs to be created for every acre of land allotted to IT companies that are willing to set up units in towns such as Hubballi, Belagavi and Shivamogga.
Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, S.R. Patil, Minister for IT & BT, explained that IT firms were, at present, getting free land on a 30-year lease on the condition that they create 1,000 jobs per acre allotted, as per the Karnataka i4 policy. However, the government wants to further reduce the land-employment ratio to below 500 jobs an acre, he said.
Several IT firms had informed the government that the present land-employment ratio was not feasible, especially when other sectors were creating less than 200 jobs an acre.
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The government also plans to pay the employers’ contribution towards provident fund and ESI at a rate of Rs. 2,000 per employee a month for two years for IT firms setting up units in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, he said.
Stressing the need for the IT sector to spread out to different parts of the State instead of concentrating in Bengaluru alone, he said the operational costs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities would be less than 50 per cent of that in Bengaluru. Also, there was adequate availability of highly educated manpower in these areas, he stressed.
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Referring to the security concerns in the wake of the recent bomb blast in Bengaluru, he said the government would never allow the IT sector to reel under any fear psychosis and would initiate stringent measures to strengthen security.
On the efforts being made by other States, especially Andhra Pradesh, to woo IT firms from the State, he said: “There is no competition for Karnataka in the IT sector. We have to compete with other countries like the U.S. In fact, Hyderabad firms are showing interest in moving to Bengaluru.”
He said he was holding talks with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to evolve a model in the IT sector for implementation of the Sarojini Mahishi report on providing reservation in jobs to Kannadaigas, without harming the interests of the industry. A recent Nasscom survey had shown that 58 per cent of the total workforce are Kannadigas.