According to the policy, which the state information technology department is expected to announce shortly, an IT company would receive ₹25,000 in one-time recruitment support for each individual hired from Odisha, provided that the employee stays on the job for at least a year. This incentive has a maximum limit of ₹25 lakh per unit for five years after the start of operations.
The Odisha government’s 2022 IT policy stated that IT companies will receive a one-time incentive of ₹10,000 for each newly hired executive-level employee, residing in Odisha.
Every Odisha woman, SC/ST individual, and physically challenged person working for such enterprises will receive ₹1,000 under the proposed policy.
IT firms that hire young people from the area will be fully reimbursed for the costs associated with their employees’ Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee State Insurance (ESI) contributions.
The strategy suggests offering a 100% stamp duty exemption on the first transaction and a 50% exemption on the second transaction for businesses establishing IT parks in the state that are leasing or selling government-allocated land or built-up space. The government intends to repay 15% of the investment, up to a maximum of ₹200 crore, for businesses that spend more than ₹1,000 in IT parks. For five years following the start of commercial operations in the state, eligible lT units, towers, and parks would receive a 100% exemption or compensation from paying electricity duty. Likewise, it intends to reimburse qualified lT units, towers, and parks 100% of the State GST.
Other noteworthy features of the new policy include the reimbursement of 30% of the fixed capital investment for units with less than ₹100 crore in investment, and 25% of the investment cost for those with between ₹100 crore and ₹200 crore. Twenty percent of investments beyond ₹250 crore would be repaid.
At least 70% of the built-up area of IT towers must be devoted to lT/lTeS units, and no more than 30% may be used for support infrastructure services, such as cafeterias, food zones, restaurants, recreational centers, and public utility services.
The new IT policy, coinciding with the government’s efforts to accelerate the state’s IT sector’s growth, also suggests rewarding IT enterprises that hire two to twenty interns annually by paying them 50% of the interns’ stipends.
Additionally, the strategy suggests providing incentives for the animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) industries. These incentives include capital subsidies, reimbursement of production costs for animated movies, television shows, and video games, as well as help with marketing and hiring.
Other incentives for the IT companies include exemptions from routine inspection by Labour department under Factories Act 1948, Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, Payment of Wages Act, Minimum Wages Act, The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies)Act, The Contract Labour [Regulation & Abolition] Act, Maternity Benefit Act, Payment of Bonus Act, lnter State Migrant Workmen [Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service] Act, Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, Sexual Harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and Workmen’s compensation Act. The State government has also declared lT units as Public Utility Services under the provisions of the lndustrial Disputes Act, 1947 to exempt them from the disruption caused by general strikes and bandhs.
Odisha’s IT policy for 2022 set an annual export target of ₹10,000 crore, but in 2023–24, it achieved ₹7,500 crore, up from ₹5,207 crore in 2021–2022.
