Lok Sabha Question No. 1483 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: BPO in Rural Areas
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: DEVJI MANSINGRAM PATEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1483

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.12.2018

## BPO IN RURAL AREAS

## 1483.        SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether the service sector based on information technology in the rural areas i.e. the rural BPO is not only promoting infrastructure development based on I.T. but also generating new employment opportunities in the rural areas;
- (b)   if so, the total number of BPOs functioning in the rural areas of the country including Rajasthan along with the jobs generated by them;
- (c)   the steps taken by the Government to promote BPOs in the rural areas; and
- (d)   the details of the amount of grant which is given for setting up of BPO?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI S S AHLUWALIA)

(a) and (b): Yes, Sir. Government has launched two BPO promotion schemes, namely India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) and North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS) with the aim to create employment opportunities through promotion of investment in IT/ITeS sector across the country particularly in small cities/towns including rural areas and by incentivizing setting  up  of  BPO/ITeS  operations.    Since  the  inception  of  these  schemes  150  BPO/ITeS units have started operations in small cities/towns across 25 States and 2 UTs of the country providing direct employment to over 23,000 persons. In the State of Rajasthan, 3 units have started operations for a total of 400 seats with initial employment to ~400 persons.

(c): In order to promote BPOs in small cities/towns including rural areas the metro cities with significant  level  of  IT/ITeS  activity  viz  Bangaluru,  Chennai,  Hyderabad,  Kolkata,  NCR, Mumbai  and  Pune  have  been  excluded  from  IBPS.  Further,  Special  incentives  have  been provided  to  the  units  setting  up  operations  at  other  than  State  Capital.  Also  Ministry  of Electronics  and  IT  (MeitY)  in  coordination  with  State  IT  Departments  has  organised workshops, road shows, seminars etc for promoting dispersal of IT-ITeS/ BPOs in tier-II/III cities across the country.

To  promote  IT-ITeS/  BPO  industry  in  small  cities/towns  including  rural  areas,  Software Technology  Parks  of  India  (STPI)  an  autonomous  society  of  MeitY  has  49  centres operational in Tier-II/III cities. In addition, 24 STPI centres have been approved in Tier-II/III cities which are at various stages of implementation.

(d):  The IBPS and NEBPS reimburse 50% of capital and operational expenditures upto ₹ 1 lakh/seat  as  Viability  Gap  Funding  (VGF).    The  schemes  also  provide  several  special incentives like encouraging employment  to  women  and  physically  disabled persons, promoting  local  entrepreneurs  etc.  within  the  cap  of ₹ 1  lakh/seat.  The  disbursement  of financial support under these schemes is directly linked with employment generation.

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