Bangalore is the ‘Silicon City’. Hyderabad is Cyberabad. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are getting aggressive to promote e-governance. Gujarat has gone for the ambitious Poistra Project, a concentrated infotech-enabled hub. Will Goa be left behind in the race? Ramakant Khalap, state minister for information technology, does not think so. In an interview to Cyber News Service, he outlines measures, which will "catapult Goa to an intelligent-state status."

On the status of the IT industry in Goa:

Goa has the right kind of infrastructure to promote IT and the right kind of ambience. With an available English-speaking populace well-versed in the hospitality sector, we could well focus on making Goa the country’s first intelligent state.

Steps taken by the government to promote the software industry:

To catch up with other states, we have constituted an apex level advisory body. Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, director general of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, heads the Infotech Council. Top names in the industry are associated with the council and it put in a lot of work into drafting the recent Infotech policy. The state government will also have an infotech committee to provide ways and means to actualize the vision of making Goa an intelligent state.

The vision statement for the state:

Our USP would be to lay special thrust on the IT industry, especially IT-enabled services and infotainment. Along with tourism, Goa could also provide the right kind of ambience as an IT-enabled state and this can attract a lot of overseas investment. We already enjoy one of the best telecom densities in the country. The optical fiber network is in place and the power situation is healthy. Industry can rest assured that we will make life a lot easier for them.

Goa’s IT policy:

We have adopted a five-pronged strategy to address all issues. These include education, e-governance, promotion of the infotainment industry, notifying IT parks and habitats and offering venture capital to industry. We will begin improving infotech education at the basic level and offer high-end courses at our university. Around 80 government departments will be connected in a span of two years. We have already sought help from Andhra Pradesh for this purpose. For every 100 jobs, the government will put in Rs 50 lakh by way of equity in the company.

We already have the right kind of ambience to offer to industry. The educated populace here would be ideal for an IT-enabled service industry, call centers, medical transcription and insurance. These could become really big here.

The budget allocated to promote the industry:

Around 10% of the budget has been allocated for the promotion of industry here. Let us not talk about revenues since the current figures are quite low, just around Rs 25 crore. But we hope to reach a healthy figure. Roadshows should begin in a major way shortly and you will see a different picture then.