IT sector in the state is hoping that Finance Minister K M Mani will announce some sops in the budget to the booming industry which is going through a transition phase. The IT sector, with 85 per cent of the 200-odd companies based in Technopark and Infopark being Small-Scale Enterprises (SME), is looking for a corpus fund from the State Government.
The Group of Technology Companies (GTECH), which has around 200 IT companies as its members, is looking at the State Government to set aside at least Rs 30 crore as corpus fund in three different categories.
“This year, our wish list has three main demands. One is to create a fund for marketing IT companies working here abroad to help find new markets. Out of the 200-odd companies, 85 per cent have less than 100 employees working and they fall in the category of SMEs. They need the government support for growth and this fund could be utilised for exploring new markets and clients in foreign countries,’’ said V K Mathews, Executive Chairman of the IBS Group and member NASSCOM Executive Council.
The other main demand in the representation given to the Finance Minister is for financial assistance from the State Government for incubating start-up companies and waiver of rent for the IT companies in the state. “Compared to other states, in Kerala the number of small companies coming up in the IT sector is on the higher side.
These start-ups need much promotions and the government should constitute a fund for promoting such companies,’’ said Mathews. Anoop Ambika, secretary of GTECH and managing director, Kreara Solutions, said that the state IT sector was expecting freezing of rents for IT companies.