1700 acres earmarked for knowledge park: Adaish Partap Singh Kairon

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has reserved 1,700 acres of land for development of knowledge park at Mohali to boost IT sector, Information Technology minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon said today.

Out of this, 40 acres have been earmarked exclusively for development of Electronics System Design Manufacturing ( ESDM) cluster as per the Central government's scheme, he said.

At a meeting with IT industry's representatives here, Kairon said the state government has come up with draft of a new IT policy aimed at strengthening the infrastructure.

Highlighting the importance of the ESDM sector, the minister said "India is a recognised global player in the software service sector but it lags behind in electronics hardware manufacturing capabilities."

However, he added, the country is rapidly becoming a favourable destination for chip design and embedded software and there is immense potential for the same.

"Therefore, the state government will be drafting a new policy for ESDM sector with special package of incentives to transform Punjab into a global ESDM hub," the minister said.