Now, govt offers job generation subsidy

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 26

The state government is offering an employment generation subsidy of Rs 30,000 each per year for five years to employees trained and certified by the Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) or any other state/Central government skill development scheme or state-approved institutions.

The move is aimed at giving a fillip to employment generation as well as to attract new investment in the state, especially in the form of anchor units in sectors such as IT/IT-enabled services, apparel, footwear and accessories, electronics and food processing.

The upper limit of the subsidy per year is the maximum of 20% of the net GST (State Goods and Services Tax +Integrated Goods and Services Tax) deposited by the unit in a year. The evidence for employment would be related statutory returns under the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

“Ideally, new investment in IT/ITES needs ready-to-build sites. So, we are offering around 4 lakh square ft area ready-to-build offices in Mohali, “said Mohit Goel, AVP, Bestech India (P) Ltd.

For IT/ITES, apparel, footwear and accessories, electronics and food processing industry, the minimum fixed capital investment should be Rs 50 crore and there should be minimum employment generation of 500 people.

In the case of manufacturing sector or service sectors, the minimum fixed capital investment should be Rs 200 crore and minimum direct employment generation should be 1,000 people.

Secretary, Industries, Rakesh Verma said, “We expect that the incentive offered by the state will not only help in attracting investment in the state but also help in generating employment.”

Recently, the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) invited bids from IT and IT-enabled services firms to set up BPO units in Punjab with financial support under the India BPO Promotion Scheme.

Under the scheme, the Central Government will provide financial support of up to 50% of expenditure incurred on BPO/ITES operations towards capital expenditure and/or operational expenditure (opex) on admissible items, subject to an upper ceiling of Rs 1 lakh per seat. The scheme is aimed at generating employment in all small cities in the country.