BHUBANESWAR: The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is eyeing a growth of about 10 per cent in IT services exports in the current fiscal ending September. Director General of STPI Omkar Rai said despite the underlying challenges in the sector, India has been able to sustain double-digit growth for the last few years.
“While IT exports to the tune of Rs 3.72 lakh crore has been achieved so far, it is expected to cross Rs 3.8 lakh crore this fiscal. Last year India’s IT exports stood at 127 billion dollars (about Rs 8.7 lakh crore), including Rs 3.5 lakh crore from STPI,” he told Express. From Rs 52 crore in 1992-93 to Rs 3.5 lakh crore in 2016-17, the growth in IT exports by the STPI has been phenomenal. Odisha has contributed around Rs 3,800 crore during 2017-18 as the STPI has played a pivotal role in promoting Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Of 58 STPI centres, 50 are in Tier-II and Tier-III locations in the country.
Rai was here on Saturday to attend the inauguration ceremony of Bhubaneswar STPI’s state-of-the-art Electronics and IT Enclave (STPI ELITE) at Gothapatana developed in an area of 80,000 sq feet at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
The enclave will house smart laboratory meant for characterisation testing of chips that are being designed in India besides a fabrication lab that is coming up in collaboration with US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The fab lab will be opened for students, researchers and entrepreneurs who will get to use the latest technology and create their own prototypes.
Earlier, technocrats and entrepreneurs used to send their chips for testing in laboratories of Hongkong, US, China and Taiwan. An Electropreneur Park will also come up at the STPI enclave. The second-of-its-kind park will have all laboratories, including a state-of-the-art electronics lab and complement the similar facility at Delhi. The park will offer prototyping machines so that start-ups can come up with electronics products within a short turnaround time.
“Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been approved and the park will function soon. The park at Delhi University is now a successful incubator,” Rai said.
The enclave will also act as an incubator for entrepreneurs and a place for start-ups maturing from the Centre of Excellence for Virtual and Augmented Reality for Immersive Visualisation (VARCoE) that has been set up in collaboration with IIT-Bhubaneswar and Odisha Government.
Bhubaneswar STPI project has been notified by the State Government as its own IT infrastructure. The Government will subsidise the rent for small operators and start-ups who will have to pay only Rs 20 per sq feet, Rai added.