TECH CITY: Northeast’s Largest Tech Park to gene
Post# of 22456
CHANDRIKA DAS | FEBRUARY 02, 2019 12:30 HRS
The largest tech park of northeast India, “Tech City” has been set up at Bongora, Kamrup (M). This is the first ever tech park of the region, which will house global companies. The tech part is a joint initiative of Government of India (GoI) and Government of Assam (GoA).
Overview :
The tech park has been set up with an objective to enable suitable environment for Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) industries. The park will not only provide facilities to different industries, but would also generate employment thus contributing to the growth and progress of the state.
The tech city has been set up within a state-of-the-art campus of 103.39 acres which is further planned to be expanded by another 100 acres. The park is well connected by roadways, airways, and waterways and is located 400 meters from National Highway (NH) 37. The nearest railway station from the project is the Kamakhya Railway Station, which is approximately 15 kms from the site. The park is located 4 kms from the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport and 15 kms from the Pandu Port. The institutions of higher learning that lie in close proximity of the site are Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Gauhati University and Assam Engineering College.
The development and design work of the park has been taken up by a Gurgaon based company, M/S Voyants Solutions Pvt Ltd, whereas, overseeing of the marketing and promotion is being done by M/S Honeycomb Global Strategy and Innovations Solutions.
Development of the project so far:
The construction of the park is expected to be completed by December, 2019
The infrastructure development process at the site was initiated in January 2018 following which the foundation stone was laid by Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, along with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and IT Minister of Assam, Keshab Mahanta during the Global Investors’ Summit held in Guwahati in February, 2018.
According to the department, the major work of the project has already been done. Peripheral roads have been developed and the demarcation boundary has been done. The construction of the approach roads to the park is in the developing stage. A site camp and security barrack running on solar power has been set up for continuous supervision and monitoring. The project is being monitored 24X7 through the installed CCTV cameras and the appointed security personnel.
Project Outlay and Finance:
Budget for the total project is Rs 119.85 crores
The proposal of the project was given in-principle approval by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY) on 20th December 2017, after receiving approval from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was approved on 23rd January 2018. The 1st instalment of Rs 10 crores had been released by MEITY on 7th March, 2018 out of the total sanctioned amount of Rs 50 crores from the Central Government.
The finance contribution for the project is shown below:
Grants from Govt of India 50 INR Crores
Funding from Govt of Assam 39.89 INR Crores
Contribution from AMTRON and Constituent Unirts 29.96 INR Crores
Total 119.85 INR Crores
Companies and units in the cluster:
So far, the following companies are confirmed to open their offices in the tech park. The companies include names from IT, electronics and manufacturing industries. The sectors of production include Quantum Dot NanoCrystals, Solar PV, Photonics, Smart Meter, Internet of Things, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence.
M/S Simoco Telecommunications (Kolkata) Ltd having key product line – LED lights manufacturing and proposed investment of Rs 6.5 crores.
M/S Amtronics CC (US based) which, for the first time in India, will be manufacturing Quantum Dots Nano Crystals and other downstream products with proposed investment of Rs 104 crores.
DS Systems Pvt Ltd (Guwahati) having key product line - Power Conditioning Equipment and Solar Products manufacturing with proposed investment of Rs 6 crores.
M/S Rashmi Smart Meters Pvt Ltd and Reach Seamless Ltd (Kolkata) which will be setting up electronic manufacturing service unit for PCBA using SMT Technology.
Responsible eWaste Management Pvt Ltd (Siliguri) which will be setting up an e-waste management plant.
Employment Generation:
The tech park is expected to generate employment for almost 8,000 youth in the state, directly and indirectly. Speaking on this, MK Yadav, Managing Director, AMTRON said, “The Park will generate huge employment opportunities in the region. The skilled youth, unlike before, will not have to go out of the state to make a livelihood. For the first time, such an opportunity has opened up in the state. The park is expected to boost Assam’s economy to large extent.”