NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The government is reviewing work on two IT projects- the IT park at Chimbel and the ESDM cluster at Tuem every two weeks, said Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Wednesday. Both the projects are on schedule, he said at a city function.
The master plan for both the projects are likely to be ready in a month’s time and will be kept open for public discussion, he said. The plans will be kept open for discussion with the Chimbel and Tuem panchayats, he added.
The chief minister, who is also the IT minister, said that the file relating to the electric sub-station for the ESDM cluster at Tuem has been cleared recently. Other progress made on the projects includes laying of main water pipelines and contour mapping of the areas.
The chief minister was speaking at an EDC competition for start-ups which ended on Wednesday. The government is serious about IT industry so as to prevent migration, he said. If the migration of young engineers is not stopped Goa could become a state only for tourists and old people, he said. EDC came in for praise from the chief minister. The start-up competition is a small event but with far-reaching consequences as it is an initiative to encourage beginners, said Parsekar.
The CMRY scheme operated by EDC has achieved 89.77 per cent repayment with beneficiaries either clearing their loans or repaying it regularly. It is a track record that is admirable, said Parsekar.
EDC officials present at the function included Sidharth Kuncalienker, MLA and chairman of EDC, Santosh Kenkre, vice chairman, Arvind Ghatkar, Sandip Bhandare, B S Borkar and Victor Gomes. Technology start-up Inventrom bagged the first prize of Rs 5 lakh while the second and third prize winners were Kellos Engineering India Pvt Ltd, and Brown Tape respectively. Apart from cash prizes, winners take in number of gifts including mentoring services, space at incubation centre, etc.
The competition had 35 technology start-ups participating of which eight were short-listed. Each short-listed contestant was given a certificate of participation by the Chief Minister.