The proposed policy will offer a host of concessions in the form of sales-tax relaxations for five years, land at affordable rates, stamp-duty cut, assured water and power supply and, above all, connectivity. The government has promised a captive power station in IT parks as an alternative to regular power supply from Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) in such areas other than Mumbai.

The state has been able to woo IT majors like Tata, Wipro, Satyam Computers at Balewadi near Pune which will be developed as the state's cyber city. The government, which is holding talks with other leading global players, has already earmarked about 150 acres for development of an ITpark. The state will make land available at Rs 800 to 900 per sq mt to these investors whose export potential will be Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years.

Mantralaya sources told The Financial Express that the Software Technology Park India (STPI), a centre-sponsored organisation, has agreed to set up an earth station at Balewadi to provide connectivity to these IT investors. "Maharashtra's IT and software turnover, which is at present Rs 4,000 crore, will increase substantially to reach Rs 15,000 crore in the next five years," sources observed.

Sources said the development of Pune as Infotech or Cyber city will be the ruling saffron government's pet project on the lines of Naidu's hi-tech city near Hyderabad where a one-storeyed building will house computer companies built at a cost of Rs 80 crore. Hyderabad Information Technology, Engineering and Consultancy City will house infotech companies like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and Satyam Computers.

In a related development, the state government onWednesday cleared the Rs 2.50-crore project to bring sugarcane-rich 70 villages in Waranagar area of Kolhapur district on NICNET and provide computerised facilitation booths to these villages. The project, which will be completed within six months, will create a database of each villager on various socio-economic aspects, provide tele-education for both primary and higher education institutes and establish Geographical Information System. The project implementation committee will be headed by the Kolhapur district collector, Warna Vibhag Shikshan Samstha and other government agencies.

Chief minister Manohar Joshi said that of the Rs 2.50 crore, the centre would contribute 50 per cent, Rs 1 crore would come from the state and 10 per cent by Warna Vibhag Shikshan Samstha and other organisations. He said that these villages, with a Rs 600-crore turnover, would be "wired" with each other and to the world. "Wired villages, the concept of information whenever, wherever and anywhere," he added.

Joshi said theproject would lead to fast service for registration, certification and endorsements of land records and use of imaging for better access speed, date preservation, data integrity and security.