Amritsar getting ready for Digital Revolution

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Parsad laid the foundation stone of the Software Technology Parks of India at Amritsar pm 7th November. 

The Amritsar incubation centre to be built on 2.72 acre of land at an estimated cost of Rs.20 crores will be fully-furnished air-conditioned three-storeyed fully-secured facility with state-of-the-art Network Operation Centre (NOC), informed STPI Director Dr. Omkar Rai. 

The Union Minister along with other ministers including Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and Shri Vijay Sampla, and Punjab's IT Minister Shri Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, in their addresses considered it to be the beginning of the new Digital revolution in the State. 

The Union Minister had earlier inaugurated an ultra-modern seven-storeyed incubation facility at Mohali on 25th October built at a cost of Rs.60 crores which would give boost to the entrepreneurship and encourage startups to make their ideas come true through plug-and-play facility. 

STPI is contributing to the IT and startup ecosystem by reaching out to academia, industry and investors community so that the young startups can have access to everything at one place, said Dr Omkar Rai. 

Union Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Parsad reiterated the point that the region has seen exponential growth in software exports from the region which used to be around Rs.7 crores in 1998 when STPI Mohali was established, and today, has crossed Rs.3,000 crore mark, a milestone for any Tier II City, Dr Rai added.

The new facility would serve the IT/ITeS exporting units by offering modern infrastructural facility including incubation facilities, high speed data communication and connectivity and exports facilitation, creating new direct and indirect employment opportunities too.

Dr Omkar Rai complimented the Government of Punjab and Shri Adaish Partap Singh Kairon for giving flip to startup culture in the state by not only providing land for the projects but also facilitating the entire process of extending STPI's reach in different areas. 

Shri Kairon remarked that giving Punjab's youth another push to make the best use of the evolving digital economy was his dream, and having lived and studied in Amritsar, the STPI unit would change the lives of youth here. 

The overall exports done by STPI registered IT/ITES units in the country increased from Rs 2,93,797 Crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 3,19,569 Crore in 2015-16, an increase of 8.77%, and the largest contribution has been from the STPIs setup in the Tier-II cities.