The Telangana State government announced an ambitious policy Rural Technology Centres 2016 for realising the dream of penetration of Information Technology and IT-enabled services to the grassroots level.
The policy aims at creating at least one RTC in each of the 10 districts capable of providing employment to 2,500 people and these professionals would be trained by the Telangana Academy for Skills and Knowledge (TASK). Accordingly, it envisages setting up of the centre either in a mandal or village panchayat limits.
The location of the centre should be at a distance of at least 50 km from the nearest city and the population of the mandal or the village in which this centre would be housed, should be less than 50,000. Setting a timeframe of three years for the policy to show results, the government has announced a slew of incentives to entrepreneurs venturing to invest in these centres.
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The government would ensure reimbursement of panchayat taxes for the first three years of operation for first five IT companies in each of these locations besides reimbursing Rs. 5 lakh or 50 per cent of the cost of promotion events. Companies would be allowed to avail renewable energy under open access system subject to a maximum of one-third of their total power requirements while they would also be given 50 per cent investment subsidy on fixed capital investment with maximum limit of Rs. 40 lakh for the first three companies. The investment subsidy thereafter would be limited to 10 per cent with maximum limit of Rs. 8 lakh per unit.
Rental subsidy of 25 per cent a square feet for three years would be provided for the first three companies in addition to reimbursement of 25 per cent of the internet and telephone charges for the first three years of operations. This apart, the firms would be exempted from payment of SD/EMD and cost of tender document.
On the workforce development front, the TASK would create skill development centres and faculty development programmes for colleges and training institutions in rural areas besides providing training subsidy of Rs. 2,500 a month per person for the first six months. Recruitment assistance at Rs. 20,000 per employee for a minimum annual recruitment of 50 new IT professionals and Rs. 10 lakh subsidy to bridge the viability gap for first three years for the first three anchor units across all locations also formed part of the policy.
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