The State government has approved the creation of the Meghalaya Technology Parks Society in order to professionally plan, develop, establish, promote, operate, and manage the Technology Park projects in Meghalaya.
The society was created to promote Meghalaya as a preferred investment destination for ICT & Electronics units in order to generate employment opportunities for the talent pool of Meghalaya and other North East states and to contribute to the socio-economic development of Meghalaya and the region.
The State has Shillong Tech Park (Phase I) in New Shillong Township which was constructed at a cost of Rs 62 crore with 6000 employment opportunities.
Two other tech parks are underway. The Shillong Tech Park (Phase II) is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 121 crore and Tura Tech Park being constructed at a sanctioned cost of Rs 127 crore. The two tech parks have the potential to provide 12,000 each.
The State government has recently adopted the Meghalaya Information Technology and Information Technology enabled Services (IT & ITeS) Promotion Policy 2024.
The policy which came into force from March 14 will provide an environment which will attract investors to Meghalaya and generate sustainable employment for the citizens of the State in the IT/ITeS sector.
Under the policy, a one-time incentive of Rs 50,000 per seat created on land leased from the State after the policy commencement date will be granted to the infrastructure developer and shall be capped to a maximum of 15,000 employment generated during the policy period.
The State government will provide reimbursement up to a maximum of Rs 3000 per employee per month for expenses incurred by IT/ITeS companies for a period of three years from the date of availing of the incentives.
The expenses reimbursement will be available for employee positions or jobs created after the date of commencement of this policy which shall be capped to a maximum of 15000 employment positions during the Policy Period. These expenses include employer contribution to the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and expenses towards Internet bandwidth, electricity and transportation charges.
The State government will also provide power related incentives for IT/ITeS firms as per the State Industrial Policy.
Early birds of IT/ ITeS units in Meghalaya availing spaces in the upcoming Technology Parks of the State government will be given preferential rental rates, as may be notified by the competent authority from time to time.
The Information Technology and Communications Department is the nodal department for the implementation of this policy. Funding of incentives under this policy will be through the nodal department.