Assam is the largest economy in North-Eastern India and is rapidly making strides towards employment generation and inclusive growth by a balanced pattern of industrial investment. It embarks upon a new charter in the path of development, laying emphasis on new capital formation through the creation of ecologically compliant assets in a sustainable manner. The focus of the growing investment climate today is to build the economy on the core strengths of this region so that resources can be managed efficiently. Its resplendent nature, water resources, human resources, geographical location and agriculture are recognized as the primary assets of the state.
The Government of Assam has been making constant efforts to enhance investments in the state, and with the cabinet’s recent approval of seven sectorial policies and procurement policy, in areas of IT and Electronics, Start-ups, Bio-technology etc, the state is all set to attract investment and harness resources available in the state. In order to attract investments into the state, the Government initiates for the first time ‘Advantage Assam – Global Investors Summit 2018’ – an investment promotion and facilitation conclave. The summit is being organised in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on February 3-4, 2018, in Guwahati to cast the spotlight on the state’s readiness to become an ideal destination for investments that would cater to the North East as well as the rest of India.
The Summit will highlight the state’s geostrategic advantages for investors and showcase the manufacturing prowess and opportunities offered by the state in terms of export-oriented manufacturing and services to growing economies viz. ASEAN and BBIN countries. the strategic location of Assam in proximity to the growing ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies provides easy access to a market of over 800 million consumers. All major ASEAN cities are located geographically closer to Assam as compared to other states in India.
As a precursor to the main Summit, the Government of Assam conducted sectoral seminars at various locations to showcase the business potential and investment opportunities in the state. The seminar in Guwahati today which was organised in association with Federation of Industry & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), witnessed a session on various aspects of IT & ITES Sector. The Seminar was graced by the august presence of Shri Nitin Kr. Shivdas Khade, IAS, Secretary – IT Department – Govt of Assam, Shri Bijoy Bora- Founder of Zaloni Technologies, Shri Abhijit Baruah- Founder of MiFon, Shri P.K. Das- Director, STPI and Shri M.K. Yadava- Managing Director, AMTRON. The congregation covered some wide-ranging views from policy makers, associations and industry experts that provided a unique platform for sharing knowledge and best practices in the sector with a presentation on Investment opportunities in ESDM & IT/ ITES Sector by the Secretary to the Government of Assam, IT Department.
The Vision of the IT & Electronics Policy 2017
To transform Assam into a sustainable and innovative economy of excellence in ICT with focus on enhancing the quality of governance for the benefit of common citizens through digital empowerment and deployment of emerging technology solutions in all aspects of socio-economic life. The idea is to enhance the capacity and skill sets of the new generation for employment in IT/ITeS/ESDM sector, promoting innovation and start-ups. This Policy is applicable from the date of notification and shall remain in force from 1.1.2018 to 31.12 2022
Digital Empowerment Initiatives
Government of Assam encourages adoption and use of digital payments by all citizens, merchants, traders etc. in all sectors and develop applications towards this end. The Government will setup an Integrated Government Call Centre (IGCC) to enable the citizens to interact with the Government for accessing various services and to expedite grievance redressal. It will also act as a centralized help desk providing the citizens with guidance/information on various services and schemes offered by the Government.
Business Initiatives
Thrust will be given for creation and improvement of civil infrastructure, connectivity among IT Hubs and ancillary facilities. IT Parks, High tech cities, Research and Innovation hubs for Start-ups, Incubators and accelerators, ESDM clusters, Prototyping, Testing and quality labs, High Performance & Supercomputing infrastructure, Data Centres, Business Process Management (BPM), Centres of Excellence etc.
Electronic System Design & Manufacturing
Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) is the fastest growing segment of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. The State Government has taken a holistic view of the challenges and fiscal disabilities faced by the ESDM industry and these are addressed using a combination of promotional initiatives, post-performance incentives, fiscal measures, capital subsidies and other capacity building measures. Government of Assam outlines the Promotional initiatives under this Policy, which will enable the State to be a leading contributor in India’s ESDM sector and make the State a preferred destination for investments in ESDM. The policy devised by the government provides most attractive incentives to investors in IT and IT enabled services. The IT and ITeS units will get qualified employees amongst talented youth of Assam and entire North-East.
