Lucknow SEZ – Vision for IT City

Please share the focus areas to attract IT/ITES industry in the state?
The Government of Uttar Pradesh is focused on developing the necessary infrastructure and human capital that can lead to rapid growth of the IT industry in the state. The process of proactive engagement with investors and the effective policy implementation is leading to the creation of an environment in which IT industry can take root and flourish. With the idea of facilitating export of electronic software, the state has set up Lucknow SEZ. The state government is taking many proactive steps to encourage global IT companies to set up their base here. The availability of major centres of excellence, such as IIT, IIIT, and IIM, is also contributing a lot in making Uttar Pradesh an ideal destination for IT companies. The Government of Uttar Pradesh has already started the process for developing and setting standards for the creation of smart, vibrant and sustainable IT cities in the state. Such cities will serve as a highly attractive proposition for global enterprises, skilled manpower and major investors. This will facilitate economic growth and lead to the generation of many new IT related jobs.

Please share your vision for IT City.

The IT City that is being planned by the state government will enjoy world class ICT infrastructure to provide seamless connectivity for businesses and users. There will be an array of public and private services in a vibrant ecosystem consisting of ICT operators, service providers and end users. The state government has transferred 100 acres of land to the IT Department for setting up IT City Lucknow on the Sultanpur road. The Land Use Plan is has been developed with the intention of ensuring that there is efficiency and economy in the management of every aspect of life and business in the IT City. World class systems and technologies will be used to ensure the best possible management of traffic, promotion of safety from fire, flood waters, and other dangers, adequate provision for light and air, optimal distribution of population in affordable housing units, promotion of good civic design and arrangement, efficient expenditure of public funds, energy conservation and public utilities for meeting public requirements.

Kindly share the layout details of IT City.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh is keen to develop Lucknow and Agra as IT hubs and boost the IT/ITES and electronics sector in the state. The new IT policy announced by the state government also enables the private partners to acquire land and develop IT Cities of their own. The private players have the freedom to develop their own infrastructure. The state government, on the other hand, will give its private partners an assurance of uninterrupted power supply, security, access to airport and will set up a police station and other public utilities like post offices, for which the state government will lease land to the private partners through a transparent bidding process. For the first IT City project to come up at Lucknow, the bidding process is on. This IT City will have two zones – the first zone will have the core IT/ITES activities and the other zone shall be for non-core activities. In this self contained satellite township, the land usage pattern will be in the ratio of 60:40 approximately for processing and nonprocessing area. It is a self-contained satellite township. The processing area will consist only of IT companies, BPOs, KPOs etc. The nonprocessing area will include the whole range of residential facilities, public utility offices and other support centres. In order to enable the IT City to have seamless world class connectivity, it has been proposed that these areas should be equipped with sophisticated telephone exchanges and optical fibre connectivity. For enterprise communication, there will dedicated earth stations that offer satellite and terrestrial links for voice-data, video conferencing and connectivity with worldwide customer workstations. Apart from being directly connected with the Shaheed Path and the airport, the IT City will also enjoy a dedicated power supply system to enable the major companies to work without disruption. The estimated cost of the IT City project at Gajaria Farms on Sultanpur road will be around Rs. 1500 crore. Once, the state was among the nation’s top three IT exporters. Things have again started moving very fast and we envision the project will lead to rapid growth of the IT sector in the state.