The key to a successful PPP model is good documentation

Anurag Jain, secretary to chief minister and Department of Information

Technology, Government of Madhya Pradesh, talks about the state governments

initiatives on attracting IT investments in state, post the new IT Policy (2006)

of Madhya Pradesh. Excerpts

How would you rate the states current IT policy in terms of investment

friendliness?



Things didnt happen the way they were envisaged in the governments IT

policy announced in 1999. However, the new IT policy announced in 2006 was

candid enough to admit the failure to attract the IT industry. While we did

reasonably well in the e-governance initiative front, we did not do too well

when it came to investments in IT in the state. However, we re-strategized and

in the new IT Policy 2006 of Madhya Pradesh, we provided further concessions and

incentives in IT. We are promoting Indore, Gwalior, Bhopal, and Jabalpur to

attract investments from the IT industry. If we draw comparisons with the

policies of other state governments, then MPs IT policy is one of the most

investor friendly.

Are there any specific plans to attract the IT industry into the state?



There are plans for coming up with three IT SEZs in Madhya Pradesh with an

investment of Rs 1,500 crore. These are being planned in Bhopal, Jabalpur, and

Gwalior. Overall, we plan to pump in a total of Rs 2,300 crore in investments

over the next 4-5 years. Were in talks with various IT companies for this.

Besides, builders like DLF, Vipul, Parsvnath, L&T, etc, have set up individual

IT SEZs. There are around 7-8 SEZs in personal capacity.

Madhya Pradesh has undertaken many projects on the public private

partnership model. What has been your experiences?



The PPP model is a good concept but one should not just jump into it. The

key to a successful PPP model is good documentation. If the documentation is

done properly, PPP can be a win-win situation for both. It is also critical that

the SLAs are clearly drafted and defined in order to ensure adherence.

Whats the state policy on proprietary software versus open source?



It is supply-driven. My take on this is that whether proprietary or open

source, if a software is useful for me, Ill go for it. And if both are

available, I would choose open source. However, the availability of trained

manpower on open source is a challenge and hindrance. So, in a way, both have

their own sets of advantages and disadvantages.

Are there any mission mode projects in the state?



We are working on all the 27 mission mode projects under the National

e-Governance Plan. Two projects that we are concentrating on now are CSCs and

SWAN. As far as the CSCs are concerned, we have completed our tender and placed

the order. There are five vendors working on the project across nine divisions.

It was finalized in January, and around October 2008, we expect 9,232 CSCs to be

in place.

Shipra Malhotra



shipram@cybermedia.co.in