Asia8217;s largest IT show unfolds in Bangalore

BANGALORE, NOV 1: The Karnataka Government on Monday announced a slew of measures, fiscal incentives and programmes for the information t...

BANGALORE, NOV 1: The Karnataka Government on Monday announced a slew of measures, fiscal incentives and programmes for the information technology IT sector, as Bangalore IT.com 8217;99, billed as Asia8217;s largest IT exhibition, began the same day.

Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna said 100 per cent exemption from payment of entry tax would be given on computer hardware, peripherals, accessories and raw materials and other inputs used in the IT industry. Inaugurating the mega five-day event at the electronics city, Krishna announced 100 per cent sales tax exemption for all IT industries both manufacturing and trading, and said exemption from payment of works contract tax would be given on annual maintenance contracts for IT products and equipments.

He said a decision to create an independent IT department in the state has been made, which would be the single window for all the clearances, incentives, permissions required by the IT industry. Five per cent of each department8217;s state budgetary resources-supported plan expenditure would be reserved for a period of five years for applying, promoting and implementing IT and E-governance in the respective department, he added.

Krishna said the State Government has constituted a special task force to explore the possibilites of sales tax exemption on all E-commerce transactions for a period of three years up to a ceiling limit. He said every high school in Karnataka would be assisted in having a computer laboratory with internet connectivity to encourage the usage of computer-based educational products in schools to achieve high level of educational quality.

8220;This initiative will be taken up in partnership with the private sector,8221; Krishna added. The Government, he said, proposed to set up a school for internet studies, in partnership with IBM, which would be an exclusive institution and the first of its kind in the country.

Krishna also announced that a Chief Minister8217;s task force on IT was being constituted under the chairmanship of Narayana Murthy, Chairman of Infosys Technlogies Ltd. Its members were eminent personalities 8212; Azim Premji, Vikram Shah, Pradeep Kar, Sreeni Rajan, Som Mittal, Gururaj Deshpande, B V Naidu and Sanjoy Das Gupta, who would be members secretary, he added. The Government, he said, has decided to create videoconferencing facilities for all deputy commissioners and superintendents of police and chief excutive officers of zilla parishads in all districts of the state. This will be executed within a month.