Bihar has come up with a new and ambitious IT (information technology) Policy 2024 with a plethora of sops to entrepreneurs to attract industries in the sector.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet approved the policy on Monday to position Bihar as a hub of IT industries and services in the eastern region of the country, as well as generate employment for the youth.

“The IT Policy 2024 has been framed with the help of industry experts and stakeholders, and offers comprehensive incentives to encourage domestic and international investors to choose Bihar as their destination for investments in the IT, ITeS and electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM),” state IT minister Israil Mansuri said on Tuesday while providing details about the new policy.

The policy provides a subsidy of 30 per cent on fixed capital investment up to Rs 30 crore and provides an option of 10 per cent interest subvention for five years to the tune of Rs 40 crore.

The investors could also avail “lease rental subsidy” worth 50 per cent of the rent for five years for units operating from leased offices or commercial spaces. They will also get an electricity tariff subsidy of 25 per cent of their energy bill for five years.

“Under the new policy we also plan to provide 100 per cent reimbursement of the employer’s contribution towards Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees State Insurance of up to Rs 5,000 per employee per month for five years,” Mansuri said.

“We will also provide ‘tailored’ packages to mega IT or ITeS units with an investment of Rs 100 crore or more, which create at least 1000 jobs,” Mansuri added.