Goa’s land auction to lure IT companies bite dust
The Goa government’s proposed Rajiv Gandhi IT habitat at Dona Paula-and probably Goa’s information technology dream may not have a great future. The investors were not attracted to the seven plots at the IT habitat site which were put up for auction by the government. The government now is looking at using the prime Dona Paula land for real estate and shift Goa’s IT efforts to a less fancy location.
The government had speculated an investment of Rs 500 crore, and job creation of 10, 000 people. Deputy Chief minister Francis D’Souza, who is also the IT minister mentioned that all over India, state governments give free land to IT companies whereas Goa had fixed a base price of Rs 25,000 per square m for the auction. Hence there were no takers for the government’s bid to auction seven plots at the Dona Paula site. He also mentioned that he will discuss this matter with the C.M and decide on the further course of action.
The deputy C.M also stated that he will put forward a note to the C.M outlining various options that Goa can take in this regard. One option is to create IT special economic zones (SEZ). The main advantage in IT SEZs is that they have income tax exemption for 15 years, import duty exemption and also custom duty exemption. D’souza stated that Goa needs to offer such options to lure industries.
Source- The Times of India
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