Tamil Nadu government unveils rural BPO policy

With a view to generating employment opportunities in rural areas, the Tamil Nadu government has unveiled Rural Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Policy 2010' providing capital and training subsidies to BPO units setting shop in village panchayats.

According to a government order, the information technology department will play the role of a facilitator in receiving queiries from the BPO industry and vice versa and will help to find interested institutions -- both educational and other sectors -- who will want to partner with BPO units.
The institutions would assist in providing infrastructure such as floor space, power, connectivity for the functioning of BPO units and the business arrangement between the industry and infrastructure provider would be negotiated mutually by both parties.
Also, a subsidy of 15% would be provided on capital investments such as cost of hardware and equipment, subject to a maximum of Rs 3 lakh, to any rural BPO unit that had been functioning for a minimum period of 3 years and directly employing a minimum of 100 trained people. The subsidy would be disbursed in three equal instalments at the end of each year.
Besides, financial assistance would be extended to support new BPO units in training employees. A sum of Rs 1,500 per month per person would be provided as training subsidy for three months. Thus, a unit engaging 100 people would have a benefit of Rs 4.5 lakh as training subsidy.
For the disbursement of the capital and training subsidies, ELCOT will be the nodal agency and it will determine the eligibility claim of a BPO based on the above criteria.
As the presence of BPO industry was limited to Chennai, its surrounding areas and a few select urban locations such as Madurai and Coimbatore, there was a need for specific policy initiatives to attract the industry to venture into rural areas, officials said.
Educational institutions in particular would benefit with such arrangements as the industry and academic interaction will help both the faculty and students in providing exposure and experience both for entrepreneurship and future careers.