New Delhi, Apr 3 Despite the Budget remaining quiet on the extension of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme, there may still be some hope for the industry. on Thursday said he is hopeful that the finance ministry will agree to extend the scheme by another 10 years.

“I have once again discussed the proposal with finance minister P Chidambaram and am confident he will look at extending it, although he does have some reservations,” Raja said. He added that he has also apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about continuing the scheme who has interacted with the FM over the issue.

If the scheme now has to be extended, it will have to be done during the course of the fiscal year, as by the next Budget, it will lapse.

The STPI scheme, which provides a number of tax benefits including a 10-year tax holiday to units registered under it, is set to get over in March 2009. Any announcements on the extension of the schemes had to be made in this Budget to ensure continuation of the scheme. Source: Financial Express

STPI scheme may not be scrapped
This may be big news but nobody is willing to talk about it, yet there are unconfirmed reports that STPI scheme may be given another 5 years. Sources who are reportedly in knowledge of this meeting suggest that a large group of influencers in the ruling combine is gaining favor with the scheme. It may not be long before we get a formal statement, but until then, lets keep our fingers crossed

Over the past few weeks I have received a tremendous amount of hate mail regarding my column The coming death of Indian outsourcing. It seems to have catalysed debate on the problems facing the Indian outsourcing sector, such as annual 15 per cent salary hikes and 20 per cent attrition. What India needs to do to survive as the world’s back office boils down to this: It must first adjust its value system, and then it must broaden and strengthen its education programs to increase the supply of trained professionals. more