'What I hope to do is provide a vehicle for that scale and growth in literacy and English as a second language here.'
The government on Thursday tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers as it allowed importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere 'authorisation' upon detailing quantity and value. The new 'import management system' is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime. The announcement is likely to provide relief to companies in the IT hardware segment in India as they had flagged concerns over the imposition of a strict licensing regime for importers.
The private STP is being set up by the JSS Group at Infocity in Chandaka, Bhubaneswar.
The Customs clearance required for moving equipment like laptops, desktops, etc out of SEZ units was delaying things as the clearance had to be taken in person after a first level of approval online.
It was government policies, not ITA-I, according to a recent study.
Although Infosys was given 50 acre at Rajarhat for setting up its first development centre in West Bengal, the firm was insisting on getting special economic zone status, which the state was not keen to consider due to political reasons.
Chennai is slowly becoming a hub in providing support for gaming and android-based technologies.
Small and medium information technology companies operating out of the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and who have not relocated their business operations to the special economic zones (SEZs) could stand to lose a substantial part of their tax holidays after the forthcoming Budget.
IT sector wants STPI benefits extended for one year in this Budget.
Posco ICT is the IT arm of South Korean steel giant Posco, which proposed to set up a 12 million-tonne steel plant near Paradip.
The government is expected to end the benefits under Section 10A and 10B of the Income Tax Act.
Most IT companies today have multiple delivery centres, physically verifying documents is arduous and difficult to determine where the actual billing is done
The Union budget marks a watershed in the life of the Indian information technology services industry, akin to a family's coming of age rites of passage!
The Centre expects its revenue loss on account of tax sops to export oriented units under Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme to go up by over 21 per cent to Rs 11,501 crore (Rs 115.01 billion) this fiscal, over the previous financial year.
Karnataka, the leading exporter of software and IT services in the country, has continued to attract global majors to invest in the IT sector this fiscal.
IT major Infosys CEO and MD Kris Gopalakrishnan on Thursday expressed hope that the government would rationalise tax regime for the IT industry and extend the STP scheme to the medium and small sector in the Union Budget.
Communications and Information Technology Minister A Raja on Wednesday warned that withdrawal of Income Tax holiday to Software Technology Parks (STP) in 2010-11 Budget will have 'devastating' effect. He said that the STP scheme should be modified to push growth in the IT sector.
Polaris gets over 90 per cent of its revenue from exports. Till financial year 2009-10, the company did not actively think about a strategy to buy space in a special economic zone.
The software industry on Friday hit out at the government for increasing the minimum alternate tax and for ignoring the industry's plea for extending STPI scheme which would have continued to give tax breaks.
The Business Process Industry Association of India, an affiliated association of the Confederation of Indian Industry, in its pre-budget memorandum, has also demanded the extension for tax sops from the Software Technology Parks of India for at least 20 years.
The data centre will act as a disaster recovery platform.
The move to extend the income tax benefits enjoyed by units covered by the Software Technology Parks of India Act and those set up in export oriented units by another year -- up to March 31, 2011 will benefit around 6,000 STPI units and 2,486 EoUs. In its budget-related wish list, the commerce ministry had recommended a three-year extension of the scheme, while the industry has been asking for five.
Extending STPI tax benefits beyond 2010 (it was extended by a year in 2009) has been a long-standing demand of the software sector.
The government has given an 'in-principle' approval to the special incentive package prepared by the department of information technology for semiconductor manufacturing and other high-tech industries.
The state has proposed the creation of the Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow mega industrial region over at least 200 square km, where an apparel park, a gem & jewellery park, a software technology park, a herbal park and clusters for pharmaceutical firms, textiles, food-processing and auto components will come up.
"If the tax holiday is withdrawn, STPIs will lose the level-playing field vis-a-vis special economic zones. We have recommended that the government either withdraw the tax holiday to SEZs or continue the incentive to IT companies," an official with knowledge of the deliberations told Business Standard. STPIs enjoy direct tax exemption under sections 10A and 10B of the Income-Tax Act, 1961. The benefits are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2009.
Telecom and IT Minister A Raja today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to pitch for the extension of tax sops enjoyed by the IT firms for another three years.
Even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that a final decision on expiry of tax benefits to export-oriented units and Software Technology Parks of India had not been taken yet, government sources indicated that an extension of the concessions was unlikely.
Among the other demands in its pre-Budget Memorandum 2008, the IT industry body has also suggested broadening the eligibility criteria for the large tax payer unit scheme, foreign tax credits, advance pricing agreements to provide upfront tax certainty, and refund of service tax paid on services utilised for export of computer software and BPO services.
The central government is likely to extend the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme beyond 2009 only to Indian information technology-enabled services/business process outsourcing (ITeS/BPO) firms. A proposal to this effect has been included in the 11th Five-Year Plan document, which will be put up for the approval of the National Development Council, headed by the prime minister, on December 19.
Though the Planning Commission favours imposition of a direct tax on Special Economic Zones (SEZs), it does not agree with the contention that these tax-free industrial enclaves are leading to revenue loss.
In a big-ticket measure, the direct tax benefits to 100 per cent export-oriented units (EoUs) have been extended till March 31, 2010. These benefits, available under Section 10 B of the Income Tax Act, were to expire on March 31, 2009.
The government has simplified customs procedures for registration of export-oriented units, electric hardware technology parks and software technology parks for clearance of imported goods.
Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, A Raja on Wednesday assured that the Indian IT sector that the ministry was doing its best to convince the government that the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme should be extended beyond 2009.
Special economic zones dedicated to the infotech sector may receive a body blow if the tax exemptions provided to Software Technology Parks of India under Section 10(A) and 10(B) of the Income Tax Act are extended beyond March 31, 2009. According to a senior central government official, not more than half of the nearly 100 notified infotech SEZs will survive if the tax sops are extended.
Information technology firm Patni Computer Systems on Thursday said its earnings for a financial period could be affected
Software industry association Nasscom has sought continuation of software technology parks of India scheme where companies get tax benefits, till 2019.
Information Technology Small and Medium Enterprises of Orissa will approach the state government for the reimbursement of the basic salaries of technical personnel joining the sector for a period of 1-3 years.
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