Parliament Question: Establishment of IT Park in Kolhapur

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1662 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 29.07.2026 ESTABLISHMENT OF IT PARK IN KOLHAPUR 1662. SHRI SHAHU SHAHAJI CHHATRAPATI: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that Kolhapur with its substantial pool of engineering graduates across disciplines including mechanical, civil, automobile, electrical and computer science, possesses significant potential to be developed as a Tier-2 IT Hub in southern Maharashtra; (b) if so, whether any proposal has been received or is under consideration for sanctioning an IT Park in Kolhapur, leveraging available MIDC land parcels, lower operational costs and existing rail, highway and airport connectivity and if so, the details thereof; (c) the details of incentives available under the Central Government's IT/ITeS promotion \framework including GST exemptions, electricity tariff concessions and tax rebates that could be extended to companies establishing operations in Kolhapur; and (d) the steps being taken by the Government to prevent skilled engineering talent migration from Tier-2 cities like Kolhapur to metros by creating local employment opportunities through IT infrastructure development? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): The Government of India has launched several initiatives and programs to support the expansion of the IT sector and is constantly working to promote the sector throughout the country. The Software Technology Park (STP) is one such important scheme in this effort. Under this scheme, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has established 73 centres across the country including 6 centres in Maharashtra, located at Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Kolhapur, and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. The STPI centres provide Incubation services, High Speed Data Communication services, Cloud services and other statutory support services so that entrepreneurs with innovative ideas can establish their startups with the help of STPI. The incubation facility provides opportunity of meeting with investors like Venture Capitalists (VCs), mentors from IITs/NITs/Industry and networking opportunity. The details of the Software Technology Park (STP) scheme are at https://stpi.in/stp-scheme STPI Kolhapur has been established in approx. 6,600 sq. ft. of built-up area with fully furnished 62 plug and play incubation seats, conference room, meeting rooms, Network Operations Centre (NOC) etc. During FY 2025–26, IT exports of ₹241.49 crore (estimated) were reported by 7 registered STPI units at the Kolhapur Centre.Further, the State Government of Maharashtra provides various incentives, in the form of fiscal and non-fiscal benefits including tax rebates and electricity tariff concession under the extant State IT Policy. As per the Government of Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has developed an IT Park across 1.60 hectares in Kolhapur city in 2003, where three designated plots are fully operational with active IT enterprises and in Kolhapur, there are 372 IT/ITES units employing approximately 9,000 people. *****