CHENNAI: Information minister Mano Thangaraj on Saturday said the state government is planning to provide affordable and reliable high-speed internet services to households in Tamil Nadu using local cable operators’ networks. For this, Rs 100 crore would be allocated by availing loans from the public/open market, Thangaraj said.
Replying to a discussion on demands for grants for his department, the minister said the initiative is aimed at bridging the digital divide and creating a digital revolution. It would serve as a catalyst in taking government services to people’s homes, the minister said.
According to the policy note of the IT department for 2023-24, the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV (TACTV) on November 5, 2020, formed a subsidiary company, Tamil Nadu Internet and Connectivity Services Limited, to provide internet-related services to people at affordable cost.
Steps would be taken to obtain ISP licence for the company from the union ministry for communication and information technology, the note said. In the assembly, the minister also said a Green Park on international standards will be established at ELCOT Special Economic Zone in Sholinganallur on 60 acres at a cost of Rs 20 crore.
Thangaraj also said that since animation, visual effects, gaming and comics and extended reality sectors have been growing rapidly, an AVGC and ER Policy would be released to attract investment in these sectors.
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All ELCOT parks will be upgraded to Green IT Parks of global standards. For integrating the software of various government departments, the government has decided to create Application Programming Interface (API) gateway using State Family Database funds.
Thangaraj also said a Tamil Nadu Direct Benefit Transfer Platform would be created for transferring financial aid to beneficiaries under various union and state government welfare schemes. The minister also said a single sign-on platform would be created to remove the need to memorise different state government URLs and separate sign-on registration. Through this, all state government websites can be browsed without any hindrance.