Patna: The information technology (IT) department wants to ensure transparency as it creates dedicated space for prospective investors in the sector. The department is giving final touches to the proposed rules for allocation of space to investors.

"Formulation of well-defined rules for allocation of space would rule out possibility of discretion and ensure that only serious players are given space," said a senior IT official closely associated with the formulation of the rules.

Among the dedicated spaces for investors is an IT Tower that will come up near Dakbungalow Chowk in downtown Patna. KPMG has been selected as consultant for making a pre-project report on the basis of which tender documents will be prepared to invite firms to make the tower. The tender is likely to be floated in March this year, and the government aims to get the tower ready by December 2019.

Also on the cards are an IT park at Bihta on a 25-acre plot and an IT city on 106 acres of land at Rajgir. "We are setting up an infrastructure company to handle the facilities being developed by the department. This company would be the custodian of these facilities and it would have to follow the allocation rules," said the IT official.

Start-up push

More than a IT dozen start-ups, provided space at Biscomaun Tower in Patna by the IT department, will be launched this month.

"The state government had given consent for over two dozen start-ups to start their work in Bihar but unavailability of space was a constraint. Some of these companies began their work in other states in the intervening period and over a dozen were still willing to come to Bihar. We have given them space in Biscomaun Tower," said a senior IT department official. "The details would be shared at the time of their formal launch."

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who heads the information technology department, is likely to launch the start-ups.

The IT department has leased five floors of Biscomaun Tower and developed them to provide all basic facilities for entrepreneurs. Each start-up has been provided a cabin for keeping documents and gadgets. These firms will also be provided common facilities such as conference hall, high-speed Internet connection and other basic necessities.