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The STPI at BIT-Sindri will follow the Namkum (above) model
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Jharkhand’s raising a toast to technology trinity.
After Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in Ranchi and Adityapur, it has earned the Centre’s nod for a third such facility on BIT-Sindri campus near coal capital Dhanbad.
State IT secretary Satendra Singh on Monday said the Union ministry of information technology had recently given its go-ahead. “Now, the state will provide land free of cost, besides bearing the cost of setting up infrastructure to house software units,” he added.
As per the scheme of things, the government will provide a grant of Rs 1 crore for the project, besides three acres already earmarked at BIT-Sindri.
The lone government-owned engineering cradle in Dhanbad sprawls over 480 acres. So, the state science and technology department, which is custodian of the old and prestigious technical institution, will have no problem in parting with three acres.
“We have received a nod to hand over land for the proposed STPI. The facility will benefit students of BIT,” said department director (technical education) Arun Kumar.
The Sindri STPI will see 10,000sqft of built-up area that will be offered to software firms as an incubation facility during their formative years. The facility will boast high-speed Internet and 24-hour power backup.
The department feels that Sindri, although a much smaller town compared to Ranchi and Adityapur, offers an academic environment suitable for attracting talent from various parts of the country. Besides, Dhanbad and Bokaro have a good railway network, while air connectivity is also on the anvil.
For now, the Sindri STPI will be governed by its Big Brother in Ranchi, which boasts five IT companies. The state capital’s incubation facility has a work area of about 10,000sqft on a 4.5-acre campus provided by Ranchi Industrial Area Development Authority at Namkum. Workstations in around 4,200sqft area are occupied. The facility has high-speed Internet connectivity and 24-hour power backup. At present, Mumbai-based RSG Software happens to be biggest company availing STPI facilities in Ranchi.
For the Adityapur STPI, the state government signed an MoU in October 2011 after clearances from the Union ministry of information technology. The Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority (Aiada) has allotted a 3.5-acre plot in the Adityapur Industrial Area. Groundwork is expected to begin soon. The Adityapur facility will be a multi-storey building with about 10,000 sqft of office space that will be offered to IT, software and BPO firms. Like the Ranchi STPI, It will have high-speed Internet connectivity and 24-hour power backup.
Deputy director of Jharkhand Agency for Promotion of Information Technology (JAPIT) S.V. Sahu said they were in the process of engaging an architect for the ambitious project coming up along the toll bridge in Adityapur in Seraikela-Kharsawan district.
JAPIT will also engage an architectural firm to kick-start work in Sindri. The state will have the onus of constructing buildings in the earmarked space, which will be later handed over to STPI authorities.
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