Maharashtra Industries minister Uday Samant on Tuesday announced that the state's new Information and Technology (IT) policy will be presented in the next 15 days. "The state had its first IT policy in 1998. Later, the policy was revised in 2003, 2009 and 2015. At present, work on the new policy is in the last phase and we will be publishing it in the next 15 days," said Samant. The minister was replying to a half-hour discussion raised by Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Abitkar in the state Legislative Assembly. Abitkar spoke about the condition of information and technology parks in Maharashtra and the need to promote IT industry in the state as well as smaller districts, including Kolhapur. The Sena MLA said it was important to promote IT hubs in the state. "Maharashtra at present does not have an IT hub policy…when an IT park is set up, various IT companies establish their offices in that park and the IT hub is developed. The IT policy that we have developed has been under guidance and suggestions from various experts in the country. I can assure you that Maharashtra will have one of the best IT policies in the country," said Samant. The minister added the government is also preparing an IT data centre policy, which is set to be brought in front of business houses soon.
