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ANDHRA PRADESH

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

POLICY NOTE

MARCH 15, 2015 G NAGENDRA KUMAR

JPA, CIPS

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Table of Contents 1.INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1. An Overview of the state ............................................................................................................ 3

1.2. e-Governance in the state .......................................................................................................... 3

2.AP IT POLICY ......................................................................................................................................... 5

2.1. Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 5

2.2. IT Policy 2014-2020 ..................................................................................................................... 5

2.3. Vision ........................................................................................................................................... 6

2.4. Strategies for IT Policy................................................................................................................. 6

3.AP ELECTRONICS POLICY 2014 ........................................................................................................... 13

3.1. Summary ................................................................................................................................... 13

3.2. Vision ......................................................................................................................................... 14

3.3. Strategies for Electronics Policy ................................................................................................ 14

4.CORE IT SERVICES OF ANDHRA PRADESH .......................................................................................... 20

4.1. AP Online ................................................................................................................................... 20

4.2. AP State Portal ......................................................................................................................... 29

4.3. Center for Good Governance (CGG) ......................................................................................... 29

4.4. Common Services Centers ....................................................................................................... 30

4.4.1. e-Seva Service ....................................................................................................................... 32

4.4.2. Mee-seva Service .................................................................................................................. 32

4.5. National Informatics Centre – AP (NIC) .................................................................................... 33

4.6. AP State Wide Area Network (APSWAN) .................................................................................. 34

4.7. AP State Data Centre (APSDC) .................................................................................................. 36

4.8. AP STATE SERVICE DELIVERY GATEWAY (SSDG)........................................................................ 40

4.9. AP State Resident Data Hub ...................................................................................................... 41

4.10. APTSL ........................................................................................................................................ 43

4.11. Video Conferencing Facilities ................................................................................................... 43

5.ROLE OF IT IN VARIOUS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS ................................................................... 44

5.1. Transport Department .............................................................................................................. 44

5.2. Commercial Tax Department .................................................................................................... 45

5.3. Registration and Stamps Department ...................................................................................... 45

5.4. Municipalities and Urban Development Department .............................................................. 46

6. e-Governance Awards by Andhra Pradesh ....................................................................................... 46

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. An Overview of the state

Andhra Pradesh is the eighth largest state in India and is located in the southern part of India.

It borders Telangana in the northwest, Odisha in the northeast, Karnataka in the west, Tamil

Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. There are 13 districts with

9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema. Visakhapatnam is the largest city and a

commercial hub of the state with a GDP of $26 billion followed by Vijayawada with a GDP

of $3 billion. Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Kadapa, Tirupati, Rajahmundry , Kakinada , Ongole

and Eluru are other important cities in the state. As per 2011 census of India, the state is tenth

largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. As per Andhra Pradesh Reorganization

Act, 2014, Hyderabad is the joint capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states for a

period of time not exceeding 10 years. A new capital is planned to be developed in Guntur

District, between Guntur and Vijayawada. The new capital city of Andhra Pradesh will be

developed under Capital Region Development Authority.

1.2. e-Governance in the state

Andhra Pradesh state has a comprehensive view of ICT as a vehicle for transforming itself

into a knowledge-based, economically vibrant, democratic and inclusive society. The State

has a vision of empowering with the latest technology, in all sections like Education, e-

Governance, Healthcare, Institute of excellence, Infrastructure etc. The state has well

augmented IT infrastructure regime which forms an essential prerequisite for a sustainable e-

Governance society. Andhra Pradesh state has always been a front runner in taking initiatives

related to e-Governance and has been a role model to many states in India.

The Various e-Governance projects taken up at the state level include the following:

APSWAN- AP State Wide Area Network

APSRDH - Andhra Pradesh State Resident Data Hub

AP State Wide Video Conference

SAPNET – Society for Andhra Pradesh Network

KM-ATOM – Complete Office Tool for Paperless Office

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District Portals

Hudhud Portal

Meeseva Portal

Common Service Centers (e-Seva - Citizen Service with a Difference)

AP Portal

AP Online

e-Procurement

e District

e Office

e-Suvidha - Complete Application for Municipalities

e-Return – VAT e Return

CFST- Transport Department Services

UIDAI

CARD- Computer-aided Administration of Registration Department

CDSC – Online issue of statutory Forms of CT (Commercial Taxes) Department

MGNREGS - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in e-Governance Projects

RAPR (Rapid Assessment Project Monitoring System for Gram Panchayat

Resources).

Under National e Governance Plan (NeGP), the core infrastructure projects include State

Portal & SSDG, SDC, SWAN and e-District, which have been implemented to form the

pillars of the e-governance of the state.

Several Organizations have been constituted for the implementation of IT/ e Governance

initiatives such as Andhra Pradesh Technology Services Limited (APTSL), Centre for good

governance (CGG), National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Andhra Pradesh Society for

Knowledge Networks – Jawahar Knowledge Centre (www.ieg.gov.in). APTSL is a state

owned corporation that has been created for the execution of various e-Governance initiatives.

It is a premium body that provides implementation, support consultancy, and procurement

services to the Government entities for their ICT initiatives.

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2. AP IT POLICY

2.1. Summary

The Government has announced first Information Technology (IT) Policy for promoting the

IT Industry and IT Enabled Services in the State on 25-05-1999. The IT Policy was modified

& revised as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy subsequently w.e.f.

27-06-2002. The present ICT Policy 2005-2010 came into force w.e.f. 21-03-2005 and valid

up to 5 years. Due to the Policy initiatives IT sector in the State of Andhra Pradesh has grown

by leaps and bounds during the last decade The employment created by IT sector in 1999 was

12,000 and this increased to 2,51,786, that is an increase of 20 times by 2009. The export

turnover in 1999 was Rs.284 crores, which has reached to Rs.32, 509 crores in 2009,

recording an increase of 110 times.

As of now, the share of IT exports from The State of Andhra Pradesh occupies 15% of

national IT exports. IT sector contributes to more than 49% of total exports from all sectors

in the State. AP State is ranked 4th in IT performance in the Country. In order to bring out a

pragmatic ICT Policy 2010 -2015, the State Government has constituted Focus Groups with

major stakeholders, i.e., heads of companies of various verticals of ICT Sector – IT, ITES,

Animation, Gaming & Digital Entertainment, Communications, SMEs, IT-HR, IT-

Infrastructure providers, Industry Associations, such as, ITsAP (Hysea), Vizag IT

Association (VITA), National Association of Software and Service Companies

(NASSCOM), CII, AMCHAM, TiE, and Indian School of Business (ISB), STPI, etc., and

extensively deliberated on the design of the ICT Policy 2010-2015, with these focus groups.

The evolution of ICT Policy 2010-2015 is largely founded on this interaction.

2.2. IT Policy 2014-2020

Andhra Pradesh had taken a leadership position in e-Governance and Information

Technology. The Growth was propelled by the availability of rich talent pool, lower cost of

operations and in some measure due to the innovative policies of the Government.

Consequent on the reorganization of the State it is imperative to revisit the existing policy

initiatives and make them more attractive to suit the current and future requirements of the

new State of Andhra Pradesh. The State of Andhra Pradesh is pioneer in offering the best

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incentives and facilitations for the growth of the ICT sector, with business friendly policies

and proactive approach of the Government.

AP IT Policy 2014-2020 has been prepared by the AP ITE&C Department on 11th August

2014.

2.3. Vision

Andhra Pradesh has envisaged a vision to develop Andhra Pradesh as a knowledge society of

global repute, with a focus on enhancing the quality of life of its citizens, through high-quality

education and healthcare, increased productivity in agriculture and allied activities, creation

of requisite employment potential by promoting electronics and IT industries, and above all,

by providing good governance As a first step to realize this objective, a blue print

Reimagining Andhra Pradesh – Role of e-Governance, Electronics & IT has been released.

The objectives and targets laid out for the next five years are

To be FIRST in India in Quality & Quantity of e-Services

To be known as the Silicon Corridor of India

To attract Investments of US $ 2 bn in IT and US $ 5 bn in Electronics manufacturing

To get a 5% share in national exports of Software

To create an additional direct employment of 0.5 mil

To take Gigabit to all Villages

To make at least one person e-literate in every household.

2.4. Strategies for IT Policy

An effective policy for the development of IT is based on the four pillars, namely,

Human Capital

Infrastructure

Incentives

System of Good Governance.

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1. Human Capital: Availability of a pool of high-quality manpower is a necessity for the

development of IT Industry. While AP has over 200 engineering colleges and a large number

of training institutions specialized in IT and computer sciences, it is necessary to create an

environment that promotes quality of education in emerging technologies and alignment with

the specific needs of the industry. To this end, the following initiatives shall be taken.

The Universities will be advised to change the course curriculum to be in tune with

the emerging technologies and aligned to the requirements of the Industry, and to

introduce courses in entrepreneurship development.

Credits for Online Courses: The Universities will be advised to give credits to the

students successfully completing notified online courses.

Faculty Upgradation: A special scheme of faculty upgradation shall be introduced.

The Government would support opening of premier IT institutes in partnership with

the top IT Companies and Foreign Universities.

Mandatory Apprenticeship: All educational institutions offering under-graduate

courses in software engineering, electronics and computer sciences shall implement a

mandatory scheme of internship/ apprenticeship in the 4th Year of the course in

association with the industry.

Skill Enhancement by MSMEs: Assistance shall be provided to MSMEs with a

minimum of 20 employees on its rolls by way of reimbursement of 50% of training

fees, subject to a maximum Rs 10,000 (Rupees Ten thousand only) per employee, on

obtaining recognized certifications in emerging technologies. The assistance under

this category shall be limited to Rs 1 lakh (Rupees One lakh only) per year per unit.

Recruitment Assistance: A recruitment assistance of INR 15 lakh (Rupees Fifteen

Lakh only) to the SMEs which attain an employment of 100 employees within three

years of commencement of commercial operations.

Innovation Policy: Innovation is the prime focus area for the growth of IT industry in

the State. An Innovation Policy shall be announced to promote start-ups and IT units

in the State developing innovative products.

e-Literacy: An appropriate scheme would be announced to make one person e-literate

in every household, in partnership with the industry.

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2. Infrastructure:

Vishakhapatnam as a Mega IT Hub: Government shall endeavor to establish state-of-

the-art infrastructure of international standards suiting to the requirements of the

IT/ITES Industry. Visakhapatnam will be developed as a Mega IT Hub, through an

initial effort of developing an IT township with a built-up space of 5 million square

feet. A signature tower of 1 million square feet shall form the nucleus of the Mega IT

Hub.

IT Hubs: IT Hubs shall also be developed at Vijayawada, Kakinada, Tirupati and

Anantapur.

PPP for IT Infrastructure: The facilities, in the form of IT Towers, IT Parks and IT

Zones, shall be developed adopting a transparent PPP policy.

Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIRs): To attract Investments in

IT/ITES, and Electronic Manufacturing units, Government of India, had notified the

ITIR policy in 2008. ITIR is expected become a significant driver of the economic

activity in the region, by funneling the resources and efforts of the Central, State and

local governments into the ITIR. Government proposes ITIRs to be developed in

Visakhapatnam and Tirupati initially. The Tirupati-Anantapur corridor will be

proposed at a later phase.

Other Critical infrastructure:

a. Air Connectivity: The process of expansion and modernization of the airports at

Visakhapatnam and Tirupati are afoot. The Government shall take speedy and

effective steps to develop the other airports in the state to cater to needs of the

industry.

b. Assured Power: Andhra Pradesh has recently been selected as a pilot State to

implement the scheme of 24x7 power supply. Within a span of 5 years, the

Government intends to make the State power surplus. As an interim measure, the

ICT industry would be exempt from the purview of statutory power cuts.

c. Social Infrastructure: A multi-departmental mechanism would be established to

Improve the social infrastructure in the cities selected to be developed as IT Hubs.

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3. Incentives:

A. Incentives applicable to all categories of IT Industry

ICT industry would be exempt from the purview of the AP Pollution Control Act,

except in respect of power generation sets.

IT industry would be exempt from inspections under the following Acts and the Rules

framed there under, barring inspections arising out of specific complaints.

General permission shall be available for 3-shift operations with women working in

the night for IT/ITES Units/ Companies, subject to the IT units taking the prescribed

precautions in respect of safety and security of employees.

IT/ITES Units/ Companies and non-hazardous hardware manufacturing industry are

declared as essential service under AP Essential Services Maintenance Act.

CCITI: An empowered ‘Consultative Committee for the IT Industry’ would be

formed with the representatives of industry and the other stakeholders. The CCITI

would administer the incentives in a speedy, time-bound and transparent manner.

Land Allotment: Allotment of Government land or land held by APIIC for industrial

development, to the IT units shall be governed by the following principles.

Registration & Stamp Duty: IT industry shall be eligible for 100% reimbursement of

the Stamp Duty, Transfer Duty and Registration Fee paid on sale/ lease deeds on the

first transaction and 50% thereof on the second transaction.

Power Subsidy:

a. IT Units classified as MSME shall be eligible for 25% subsidy on power bills fora

period of 3 years from the date of commencement of commercial operations or

Rs30lakh whichever is earlier.

b. IT Units established by SC/ST & Women Entrepreneurs shall be eligible for 50%

subsidy on power bills for a period of 5 years from the date of commencement of

commercial operations or Rs.50 lakhs whichever is earlier.

c. Exemption of Electricity Duty and applicability of Industrial Tariff: New IT/ITES

units, after coming into commercial operations will be entitled for 100% exemption

on Electricity duty for a period of 5 years.

Patent Filing Cost: The cost of filing patents will be reimbursed to the companies

having their headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, subject to a limit of Rs. 5 lakh (0.5 mil)

per domestic patent awarded and Rs. 10 lakh (1 Mil) per international patent awarded.

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Quality Certification: IT Units shall be eligible for reimbursement of 20% of

expenditure incurred for obtaining quality certifications for CMM level 2 upwards,

subject to a limit of Rs. 5 lakh (0.5 mil). Similar reimbursement will be made to BS

7799 for security and also for ITES Companies for achieving COPC and eSCM

certification. The IT/ITES units/ companies can claim this incentive only once. In

addition, this incentive may be extended to other certifications based on the

recommendations of the CCITI.

Technology & Market Support: Government will support IT Exporters Associations,

ITsAP, NASSCOM, ELIAP, STPI, IEG, or any such organization (as decided by

CCITI) for conducting surveys and/or research on trends in technology, market

intelligence or on other work useful to the IT Industry.

B. Additional Incentives available for Mega Projects

Mega Projects: Mega Projects are the projects or the investment intents that can create

employment of 5000, or more in a span of 5 years. The following additional incentives

would be provided to the Mega Projects.

a. In case where the premises are taken on lease / rent basis, a rental subsidy @ Rs.10

per sqft per month shall be provided for a period of 3 years in prescribed scale of space

per employee.

b. An investment subsidy of 10% of the value of the Capital Expenditure, other than

land, shall be provided to Mega Projects that enter into an MoU with the state within

2years of notification of the Policy.

C. Additional Incentives available to MSME IT Units

MSME IT units are those units that have an annual turnover of upto Rs 25 cr (Rs. 250

mil). The following additional incentives are available to such units:

a.50% subsidy on lease rentals upto a maximum of Rs. 5 lakh (0.5 mil) per annum for

a period of 3 years

b. Market Development: 50% (100% for SC /ST & Women Entrepreneurs)

reimbursement of the exhibition stall rental cost for participating in the notified

National/international exhibitions limited to 9 sq m of space.

c. Recruitment / Training Assistance: Assistance @ Rs. 20000 per IT Professional

employed within a period of two years of establishing the unit.

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d. All turn key projects with an outlay upto Rs 5 crore to be undertaken by

Government Departments would be reserved for MSMEs registered and operating in

AP.

e. Performance-linked grant: MSMEs that record a year-on-year growth rate of 15%,

as per audited accounts, shall be eligible to get a grant of 5% on Turnover.

f. The Government has published on its portal (www.ap.gov.in) a Blueprint for

development of IT, Electronics and e-Governance sectors in the State.

g. Subsidy on Bandwidth for Connectivity: a 20% subsidy on Bandwidth for

connectivity paid to Internet Service Provider (ISP) shall be available for a period of

two years from the date of starting commercial production/operation.

D. Additional incentives available to IT Units established by SC/ST Entrepreneurs:

The following additional incentives shall be available to IT Units established by

SC/ST entrepreneurs. Item Incentive available Reservation of Built up space

Reservation of 15% built up space Investment Subsidy 25% on the Fixed Capital &

Additional 5% to the SC/ST Women Entrepreneurs, with a maximum limit per unit of

Rs. 25 lac Interest Subsidy 8.5% Interest Subsidy on Prime Lending Rate (PLR) on

the term loan and Working Capital subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lac per year for a

period of 5 years for the unit which commence commercial operations

E. Additional Incentives available to IT Units established by Women Entrepreneurs

The following additional incentives shall be available to IT Units established by women

entrepreneurs:

Item Incentive available

Reservation of 15% built up space

Investment Subsidy 20% on the Fixed Capital with a maximum limit per unit of Rs.

20 lac

Interest Subsidy 5% (8.5% for SC/ST Women Entrepreneurs) Interest Subsidy on

Prime Lending Rate (PLR) on the term loan and Working Capital subject to a

maximum of Rs. 50 lac per year for a period of 5 years for the unit which commence

commercial operations

F. Additional Incentives available to Rural IT Units

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In addition to the incentives available for MSMEs, IT Units established in Rural areas

shall be eligible for the following incentives:

All district based turn key projects with an outlay upto Rs 50 Lakhs would be

Reserved for Rural IT companies.

Subsidized loans towards the infrastructure/operations cost through SFC/ rural banks

would be arranged for such enterprises.

4. Governance of IT Policy:

Effective Single-Window System: A highly empowered ‘Single Window Clearance

Unit’ will be created and operationalized for granting approvals & clearances for

setting up New IT Units and for expansion of the existing IT units in the State. It

would be supported by state-of-the-art centralized help desk on 24x7 basis duly

leveraging the e-Biz portal set up by GoI. The objective of this window would be to

reduce time to set up business and (b) reduce cost of doing business.

Time-bound approvals: The following procedural reform would be undertaken with

an aim to provide approvals to the industry/ investors within 4 weeks.

a. Integrated Application for all permissions

b. Escort Officer to be assigned the responsibility for getting approvals

c. Escalation at various levels and regular monitoring

A provision shall be made in the relevant legislations or rules that in case the required

approvals are not granted within 4 weeks of receipt of an application in full-shape, the

approval shall be deemed to have been given.

Empowered Mission for Electronics & IT Promotion: An empowered Mission would

be established to give a fillip to the development of the sector and take faster and agile

decisions. The mission would be headed by a Technocrat and would have 3 Experts

in Electronics & IT, 2 Academics and an expert in Marketing & Promotion.

APIIC to be Industrial Area Local Authority (IALA): All IT Industrial Areas/IT Lay

Outs/Zones/Corridors, including Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) and ITIR

delineated processing areas of APIIC in the State shall be accorded the status of

Industrial Authority Local Area (IALA) immediately so that the execution and

maintenance of IT Industrial areas shall be effectively planned, executed and

implemented by APIIC in the interest of promotion of Information Technology

Sector.

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All statutory clearances to IT Parks/IT Campuses constructed by IT Infrastructure

Companies/builders/developers and IT/ITES Industry/Companies/Units for own use

on lands allotted by APIIC in their Industrial Local Area Authority, would be given

by APIIC.

This Policy is valid for a period of 5 years from the date of its notification and

supersedes the ICT Policy 2010-2015.

ITE&C Department shall issue appropriate Implementation/Operational Guidelines

with simplified application proforma and procedure for claiming of the incentives.

3. AP ELECTRONICS POLICY 2014

3.1. Summary

Globally, electronics industry is the largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry in the

world, with a size of USD 1.75 Trillion. It is expected to reach USD 2.4 trillion by 2020. The

demand in the Indian market was USD 70 Billion in 2013-14 and is expected to reach USD

400 Billion by 2020. The AP Electronic Hardware Policy 2012-2017 of the Government of

Andhra Pradesh was issued to enable Electronic Hardware Manufacturing companies to set

up, sustain, function and grow their operations in an investment-friendly, proactive,

conducive and hassle free environment in the State, while identifying specific Focus Areas,

Government has also pronounced certain incentives and facilitation measures in the said

Electronic Hardware Policy. In the context for the AP Electronics Policy 2014, the State has

laid out a vision to develop AP as an Innovation Society of global repute, with a focus on

enhancing the Quality of Life of its citizens, through high-quality Education and Healthcare,

increased productivity in Agriculture and allied activities, creation of Employment by

promoting Electronics and IT, and above all, by providing Good Governance.

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3.2. Vision

The Vision envisaged for the Andhra Pradesh Electronics Policy 2014-2020 is:

To develop Electronics Industry as an important Growth Engine for Andhra Pradesh

through effective use of the talent pool, skill enhancement, promotion of innovation

& future technologies and creation of excellent infrastructure.

The Policy aims to attract investments to the tune of USD 5 Billion in ESDM sector

and create an employment of 0.4 Million by 2020.

3.3. Strategies for Electronics Policy

Government of AP intends to achieve its vision, objectives and goals set forth above, through

a combination of the following strategies:

Adopting and promoting of NPE 2012

Building Infrastructure

Top-up Incentives of GoI

Promotion of Electronics AP

Adoption of Mission approach

Innovations and Capacity Building

1. Adopting and promoting of NPE 2012

Given the comprehensive and holistic nature of the National Policy on Electronics 2012, the

Government of AP intends to fully leverage the same and build upon its strengths, as stated

below.

Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs): The EMC Scheme intends to create

infrastructure highly suited to electronics units by providing a subsidy of 50%. The

Government of Andhra Pradesh proposes to promote the development of 20 EMCs

across the State, by facilitating the preparation of project proposals by the

entrepreneurs and providing single-window clearances.

Target investment of Rs 30,000 cr under M-SIPS: Government would make all efforts

to attract investments to the tune of Rs 30,000 cr (USD 5 Billion) and facilitate the

units to get the 25% Cap Ex subsidy under the M-SIPS scheme of GOI.

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Preferential Market Access: The policy of GOI on preferential market access for

domestically manufactured electronics products shall be implemented in all

departments procuring electronics in large quantities. Additional preference shall be

given to AP-based domestic manufacturers.

Create a Joint Government-Industry committee to market India and attract

investments in the country.

Create a fund under the management of the Committee comprising representatives of

industry bodies and government, with an equal stake to promote design,

manufacturing, assembling and innovation and packaging business.

2. Building Infrastructure

Mega Electronics Hub: Government of Andhra Pradesh envisages developing

Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) in Visakhapatnam. In the

ITIR, the Government would reserve two clusters / areas to be solely developed as

Electronics Hubs. Visakhapatnam is proposed to be developed as Mega Electronics

Hub for the state.

Electronic Hardware Park(s): The state Government will facilitate the setting up of

the Electronic Hardware Park in Kakinada as announced by the GoI. The park would

have the ‘State-of-the-art’ infrastructure with all basic amenities such as internal

roads, water, power and other common facilities for the Electronics Units.

Common Facilities Centre: Common Facilities Centres would be created in all

identified Electronics Hubs.

Visakhapatnam-Chennai corridor: Fast movement of inputs, components and finished

products is essential for cost-effectiveness in the ESDM sector, which otherwise

operates on thin margins. Steps would be taken to enhance the logistics on the

Visakhapatnam-Chennai Corridor.

PPP for creation of Electronics Hardware Infrastructure: The facilities, in the form of

electronics hubs, hardware parks and electronics zones, shall be developed adopting

a transparent PPP policy.

For each project, APIIC shall select a partner, who can be a developer or a consortium

of developers and the industry players, through a bidding process involving QCBS

method. The responsibility of marketing the facilities created shall vest with the

selected partner. The Government shall provide promotional support as needed.

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Appropriate relaxations will be provided from the zoning regulations and land usage

conversions, subject to environmental safeguards.

Relaxation to AP Building Rules would be considered, subject to the payment of City

Level Infrastructure Impact Fee and clearances from Fire Services, Airport Authority

and conformance to the National Building Code and statutory regulations.

Renewable Energy: The State Government will encourage units using renewable

energy. Units using renewable source of energy with a minimum of 40% of their

power requirements coming from renewable sources for their operations and

manufacturing will be eligible for additional incentives such as Electricity Duty

exemption for 5 years. Sales tax exemption for two additional years shall be available

against the Carbon Credits earned on a year-on-year basis.

3. Top-up incentives of GoI:

In addition to the incentives by the GoI as per NPE 2012, the Government of Andhra Pradesh

shall provide the following additional incentives.

Electronics Industry would be exempted from inspections/certifications under the

following Acts and the Rules framed there under and as administered by the Labour

Department, barring inspections arising out of specific complaints. ii. General

permission shall be available on the lines similar to IT/ITES industry for 3-shift

operations with women working in the night, subject to the Electronics Units taking

the prescribed precautions in respect of safety and security of employees.

.

CCITI: An empowered ‘Consultative Committee on Information Technology Industry

(CCITI) would be formed with the representatives of Electronics industry and the

other stakeholders. The CCITI would administer the incentives in a speedy, time-

bound and transparent manner.

Registration & Stamp Duty: Electronics industry shall be eligible for 100%

reimbursement of the Stamp Duty, Transfer Duty and Registration Fee paid on sale/

lease deeds on the first transaction and 50% thereof on the second transaction.

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Power Subsidy: 50% to Micro, 40% to small & 25% to medium & 10% to large-scale

industry limited to Rs.50 lakhs Power Subsidy on power bills for a period of 5 years

from the date of commencement of commercial operations.

Patent Filing Cost: The cost of filing patents will be reimbursed to the companies

having their headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, subject to a limit of Rs. 5 lakh (0.5

Million) per domestic patent awarded and Rs.10 lakh (1 Million) per international

patent awarded.

Quality Certification: 50% subsidy on the expenses incurred for quality certification

limited to Rs.4 Lakhs (0.4 Million) (Conformity European (CE), China Compulsory

Certificate (CCC), UL Certification, ISO, CMM Certification, SA, RU etc.).

Cleaner/Greener Production Measures: 25% subsidy on cleaner/ green production

measures limited to Rs.10 Lakhs (1 Million).

VAT/ CST Reimbursement: 100% Tax reimbursement of VAT / CST, for the new

units started after the date of issue of this Policy, for a period of 5 years from the date

of commencement of production for products manufactured and sold in AP.

Skill Up gradation & Training: 50% reimbursement/ grant of cost involved in skill up

gradation & training the local manpower limited to Rs.2,000 per person.

Investment Subsidy: 20% Investment Subsidy limited to Rs.20 lakhs (2 Million) for

MSME and additional 5% investment subsidy for Women/SC/ST Entrepreneurs.

Interest Rebate: 3% Interest Rebate limited to Rs.5 lakhs (0.5 Million) per year for 5

years

Capital Subsidy: 10% subsidy on new capital equipment for technology up gradation

limited to Rs.25 lakhs (2.5 Million) as one time availment by the eligible company.

Rebate on Land Cost:25% Rebate on land cost limited to Rs.10 lakhs (1 Million) per

acre in Industrial Estates, Industrial Parks, SEZ’s, EMCs.

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4. Promotion of “Electronics AP”

The new State of Andhra Pradesh has competitive advantage in terms of relatively lower land

cost when compared to those in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. Keeping this in view,

certain Promotion Initiatives are envisaged.

Mega Electronics Event: An Annual Mega Electronics Event shall be organized in the

State in partnership with the industry. The Government would ensure that the event

becomes a national event for showcasing and promoting the electronics industry in

the country.

Road Shows: Road shows will be conducted in the United States, Japan, Germany,

Korea, Taiwan and China for the promotion of the industry in the state. Joint

delegations of the Industry and the State

Establish Electronics Bazaars: Government of Andhra Pradesh proposes to set up

“Electronics Bazaars” at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati. The Electronics

Bazaars would act asG2B/ B2B/ B2G/B2C Platforms for Electronic Products in the

State. The Bazaars would also provide space for new product launches.

Enhance web-presence / marketing: An extensive web marketing campaign will be

run with the help of a professional agency. The Campaign would focus on marketing

and branding “Advantage AP”

Business Networking and promotional events: Government shall promote and

encourage participation in various national and international events by the industry

and by leading a Government-industry business delegation to the identified

Exhibitions and Conferences. Government would also undertake various promotional

events and road shows at various locations from time to time. A reimbursement/ grant

of 50% exhibition subsidy will be awarded for participating in the national/

international exhibitions upto9 sq. m per unit.

5. Adoption of “Mission Approach”

Mission to identify & work on Thrust Areas: Based on the Industry Demand, the Electronics

& IT Mission would identify key thrust areas/ segments in the Electronics Industry. Special

focus would be laid for developing the eco-system for these thrust areas.

The indicative thrust areas are Fables semiconductors, Mobile, LED, Smart Meters,

FPD TVs, Tablets, Base Stations, Smartcards, Sensors, IOT.

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APIIC to be Industrial Area Local Authority (IALA): All IT Industrial Areas/IT

layouts/Zones/Corridors, including Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) and

ITIR delineated processing areas of APIIC in the State shall be accorded the status of

Industrial Authority Local Area (IALA) immediately so that the execution and

maintenance of IT industrial areas shall be effectively planned, executed and

implemented by APIIC in the interest of promotion of Electronics Sector.

6. Innovation & Capacity Building

Establish COE on Fables Semiconductors: The Government aims setting up a Centre

of Excellence in Design of Fables Semiconductors in partnership with the industry

and the premier academic institutions in the State.

PhDs: The State shall target to reach a level of producing 250 PhDs in Electronics by

2018 under the scheme approved by GOI.

Skill Enhancement by MSMEs: Assistance shall be provided to MSMEs with a

minimum of 20 employees on its rolls by way of reimbursement of 50% of training

fees, subject to a maximum Rs. 10,000 (Rupees Ten thousand only) per employee, on

obtaining recognized certifications in emerging technologies. ITIs would have an

annual target of 8,000 students in electronics sector by 2017.

The Universities will be advised to change the course curriculum to be in tune with

the emerging technologies and align to the requirements of the industry and also to

introduce courses in entrepreneurship development.

Content Development: Government would support the ‘content development’ for the

online courses that would meet the current and future industry demand in association

with Industry/ Industry Associations/ Academia.

Credits for Online Courses: The Universities will be advised to give credits to the

students successfully completing notified online courses.

Faculty Up-gradation: A special scheme of faculty up-gradation shall be introduced.

The Government would support opening of premier institutes for electronics and

hardware in partnership with the top electronics companies and foreign universities.

Mandatory Apprenticeship: All educational institutions offering under-graduate

courses in software engineering, electronics and computer sciences shall implement a

mandatory scheme of internship/ apprenticeship in the 4th Year of the course in

association with the industry.

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Provision of Special Fund for Electronic Labs in Schools: Considering the importance

of Computer and Electronics Knowledge, it is essential to set up a Fund to establish

basic Electronic Labs. This would enable the school to conduct demonstrations and

training to the students who envisage interest in electronics.

This Policy is valid till 2020 unless modified and supersedes the “Andhra Pradesh Electronics

Hardware Policy 2012-17. This Policy would be reviewed and updated every year, if required,

in consultation with the stakeholders. ITE&C Department shall issue appropriate

Implementation/Operational Guidelines with simplified application Performa and procedure

for claiming of the incentives.

4. CORE IT SERVICES OF ANDHRA PRADESH

4.1. AP Online

AP Online is a digital gateway for the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) to offer

multiple services, through a single window, to its citizens. It is a best-of-breed portal,

developed by GoAP in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT

Company. AP Online Ltd was formed as a Joint Venture Company by Government of

Andhra Pradesh in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services to develop, design,

maintain and operate the citizen services portal.

AP Online provides various Government to citizen services through multiple delivery

channels. At present AP Online has over 1800 franchisee network across the state

(1000 in Urban Areas and 800 in Rural Areas) providing around 90 plus citizen

services. Currently AP Online handles 19 lakhs transactions worth Rs.70/- to

Rs.90/Crores per month. .

In this regard, few districts have taken their own initiatives and with the help of AP

Online started offering the land record and other services to the citizens through their

Kiosks. Under the AP Online services there are 48 listed services, for some of the

services charges are levied and for others there are no fees. These fees are chargeable

to citizens, and receipt for the same is issued.

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List of Services offered by AP Online

S.No. Department Service Name Service

Charges

1 Andhra Pradesh

Open School

Society(APOSS)

APOSS SSC Admission Fee

Payment Rs.10

2 APOSS Intermediate

Admission Fee Payment Rs.10

3

APPSC Challan Payment Nil

APPSC

4

Panchayat Secretaries

Grade-IV, Mahabubnagar

District

Nill

5 APSPDCL- Recruitment of

Assistant Engineers/EL(AE/EL)

APSPDCL & Junior Accounts

Officers(JAO) Nill

Rs.2/-(1-200)

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Rs.5/-(201-

1000)Rs.10/-

(1001-2500)

Rs.25/-

(morethan2500)

6 AP Transco Electricity Bill Payment

7 MSP Application Form 15

8 Civil Supplies MSPPermitApplicationForm 15

9 DIETCET DIETCET Counselling Web

Options- Phase I Fee Payment Nill

10 DISHTV DISH TV Recharge Nill

Rs.10/-(0-

1300)Rs.12/-

(1301-

1500)Rs.15/-

Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Open

Dr.BRAOUDegree

Admissions/Examination Fee

Payment-

(1501-

2000)Rs.30/-

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(2001-10000)

Rs.50/-

11 University 2013 (10001-49999)

Rs.5/-(5-24)

Rs.10/-(25-

249)Rs.25/-(250-

24999)Rs.50/-

(25000-49999)

Rs.100/-(50000-

100000)

12

Endowments

Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy

Varla Seva Ticket Booking

Rs.5/-(5-24)

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Rs.10/-(25-

249)Rs.25/-(250-

24999)Rs.50/-

(25000-49999)

Mantralayam Seva Ticket

Booking

Rs.100/-(50000-

100000)

13

Rs.5/-(5-24)

Sri Venkateswara

Devasthanam Dwaraka

Tirumala Seva

Rs.10/-(25-249)

Rs.25/-(250-

24999)

Rs.50/-(25000

49999) 14 Endowments

Ticket Booking

Rs.100/-(50000-

100000)

Rs.5/-(5-24)

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Rs.10/-(25-249)

Rs.25/-(250-

24999)

Sri Laxmi Narasimha

Swamivaari Devastanam

Seva Ticket

Rs.50/-(25000-

49999)

15

Booking Rs.100/-(50000-

100000)

16 GHMC Property Tax Collection Nill

17 Higher

Education

ICET-AC,SW-III Registration Fee

Payment Rs.10

18 HMWSS Metro Water Bill Payment Nill

19 Insurance ICICI PRU LIFE First Premium

Payment Nill

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20 Insurance LIC Insurance Premium

Collections Nill

21 Insurance TATA-AIG Insurance Premium

Payments Nill

22 Insurance SBI-Life Insurance Premium

Collections Nill

23 Insurance SBI Life Premium Payment Nill

24 Internet Hathway Bill Payment Nill

25 Internet Beam Telecom Payment Nill

26 Police E Challan

Payment(Hyderabad Circle) Nill

27 Police E Challan

Payment(Cyberabad Circle) Nill

28 Police E-Challan Payment

(Vijayawada Circle) Nill

29 SBTET Diploma Online Fee Payment Nill

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30 School

Education SSC2013Results Rs.10

31 School

Education SSCSupplementary2013Results Rs.10

32

SCB-Request For Birth

Certificate Nill

SCB

33 SCB-Request For Death

Certificate Nill

34 SCB-Request For Non

Availability Certificate Nill

35 SCB-Septic Tanker Booking

Request Nill

36 SCB-Property Tax Payment Nill

37 SCB-Water Tanker Booking Nill

38 SCB-Name Inclusion Nill

39

Secunderabad

Cantonment

Board

SCB-Name Correction Nill

40 Telephone TATA Indicom Bill Payment Nill

41 Telephone Vodafone Bill Payment Nill

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42 Telephone Airtel Bill Payment Nill

43 Telephone Idea Bill Payment Nill

44 Telephone Airtel Landline/ Broadband Bill

Payment Nill

45 Telephone Airtel Post Paid New

Connection Request Nill

46 Telephone BSNL Bill Payment (CDR) Nill

47 Vijaya Dairy Vijaya Dairy Daily Sales

Payment Nill

Warangal

Municipal

Corporation

48 Property/ Water Tax Payment-

WMC Rs.5

URL: http://www.aponline.gov.in/APPortal/index.asp

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4.2. AP State Portal

AP State portal will act as the electronic face of the government. It will be the source of

information for all government matters. Links for the respective department/organizational

websites are made available on the portal for public convenience. It also provides information

relating to State / District profile, Budget, Programmes /Schemes, forms, Acts & rules,

Government orders, Circulars and notifications etc.

It will provide a single window interface for all transactional government services of citizens,

businesses and overseas people.

URL: http://www.ap.gov.in

4.3. Center for Good Governance (CGG) Centre for Good Governance (CGG) aims to be a world-class institution to guide governance

reforms in Andhra Pradesh, other States in India, at the national level and the developing

world at large, by bringing together and harnessing the power of knowledge, technology and

people for good governance. CGG strives to be among the very best in the world in the area

of practical reforms to foster growth-oriented and people-centered good governance.

The objectives of Centre for Good Governance are:

To work with government departments and other stakeholders to analyse key issues

in governance, identify solutions, help develop action plans, and support

implementation of these plans and the reform agenda.

To act as a think tank and help translate government goals, objectives, policy priorities

and reform agenda into tangible reform actions with focus on principles and practices

of good governance.

To identify areas for change that make the most impact in improving performance and

policy-making in government and enable it to respond better to the needs of the

people.

To create a bank of best practices, methodologies and tools in governance reforms

including successful e-governance applications.

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To support change management and management development programmes in

government to effectively carry forward governance reforms and to develop reform

communication strategy for wider implementation.

To provide technical support and advisory services to state and local governments,

national and international organizations in the areas of action research, change

management and implementation of governance reforms

The key focus areas and activities of CGG include the following:

Administrative and Civil Reforms

Public Accountability and Service Delivery

Organization Development

Human Development

Agriculture and Rural Development

Public Finance Management

Urban Governance

E Governance Reforms

URL: www.cgg.gov.in

4.4. Common Services Centers

The Common Service Centers are a strategic cornerstone of the National e-

Governance Plan (NeGP), as part of its commitment in the National Common

Minimum Programme to introduce e-Governance on a massive scale. The

Government of India has formulated a National e-Governance plan with the vision of

providing all Government Services in an integrated manner at the doorstep of the

citizen and envisaged Common Service Centers (CSC), which would be run by the

local Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) to service the rural consumers

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The CSCs are envisaged to offer web-enabled e-Governance services in rural areas

that include land records, certificates, utility payments such as electricity, telephone,

water bills .

The Scheme creates a conducive environment for the private sector and NGOs, to play

an active role in implementation of the CSC Scheme, thereby becoming a partner of

the Government in the development of Rural India.

The PPP model of the CSC scheme envisages a 3-tier structure consisting of the CSC

operator called Village Level Entrepreneur or (VLE) the Service Centre Agency

(SCA) that will be responsible for a division of 500-1000 CSCs and a State Designated

Agency (SDA) identified by the State Government responsible for managing the

implementation over the entire State.

The total number of CSCs allotted to AP is 4687. The CSCs are supported at the

middle level by a Service Centre Agency (SCA) to operate, manage and build the

Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) network and business. At present about 900 CSC

centers and 1800 AP online Kiosk have been established in AP.

In addition to the universe of G2C services, the CSC Guidelines envisage a wide variety of

content and services that could be offered as listed below:

Agriculture Services (Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Animal Husbandry,

Fisheries, Veterinary)

Education & Training Services (School, College, Vocational Education,

Employment, etc.)

Health Services (Telemedicine, Health Check-ups, Medicines)

Rural Banking & Insurance Services (Micro-credit, Loans, Insurance

Entertainment Services (Movies, Television)

Utility Services (Bill Payments, Online bookings)

Commercial Services (DTP, Printing, Internet Browsing, Village level BPO).

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Out of the planned 5452 Common Service Centers, 4687 Common Services Centers (CSCs)

have already been set up in different parts of the state1. The I.T. Department has notified 8

G2C services and 10 B2C services2. The CSCs in Andhra Pradesh are being managed by the

following SCAs: (1) AP Online, (2) CMS Computers Ltd, (3) NIELIT

4.4.1. e-Seva Service

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has a clear vision to create a knowledge society by using

Information Technology in all aspects of development and governance. Pioneering efforts are

being made to reach the benefits of IT to the citizens – urban and rural, rich and poor, literate

and illiterate.

E-Seva builds on the success of the TWINS pilot project launched in Hyderabad, in December

1999. Now e-Seva provides multiple services to citizens under one roof in all Municipal

towns of Andhra Pradesh.

URL: https://www.esevaonline.ap.gov.in/

4.4.2. Mee-seva Service

The objective of the Mee-seva Services is to provide all basic needs of the common

men under single umbrella in a transparent manner without any scope of bringing and

delay in service delivery. Mee-Seva was launched on 4th November 2011 in Chittoor

District, subsequently it has been extended to all 23 districts with 319 services

pertains to all most all the departments who are rendering various public utility

concepts.

Mee-Seva was launched initially in delivering Revenue & Registration Department

services to the citizens. Today, Mee-Seva offers citizens a bouquet of 309

high volume services from 32 departments through 4070 Mee-Seva kiosk centers. The

Project has already completed 3.5 crore transactions and soon reaching 4 Crore mark.

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The target is to ensure that Mee-Seva becomes the entry and exit point for the citizen

to approach the Government for any service.

Mee-Seva centers are now also providing Business Correspondent Services for

various banks and achieving financial inclusion for the citizens. This is significant

because of the large scale Aadhaar based DBT roll out in the country.

Out of 319 Services, 152 services were notified by the different departments as on 12-

05.2014. The list of notified services department wise enclosed. For remaining

departments letters were addressed.

URL: http://www.meeseva.gov.in

4.5. National Informatics Centre – AP (NIC)

National Informatics Centre (NIC) is involved in the computerisation activities of

State/Central Government Departments, Public Sector Enterprises and other

Autonomous organizations. The broad range of service include system study, design,

coding, testing, training, implementation, software maintenance and handholding

support.

NIC Core network of 2.5G/10G connectivity is setup with mesh connectivity for high

availability and redundancy. Network infrastructure can provide 10G connectivity at

APSC. All District NIC Centers connectivity is being enhanced to 100Mbps/1Gbps

and 1Gbps at bordering Districts to neighboring States.

A host of applications like WEB/Mail/connectivity to SDC/NDC/DR & BCP are

running on the Network Services. All State Capitals in the country are connected to

Hyderabad creating a multi homing NICNET. 24X7 Helpdesk for Network services

is also present.

NIC-APSC is equipped with the most recent technological equipment like SAN

(Storage Area Network) over heterogeneous operating systems. In addition, it is also

equipped with SUN SPARC and Ultra servers, P-IV Systems, Multimedia Systems,

Routers, Bridges/Hubs, VSATs in Ku-band, RF network, IP Advantage network,

ISDN nodes, Desktop and studio based multisite video conference systems,

connecting all metros and major cities in the country, form the communication

infrastructure.

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4.6. AP State Wide Area Network (APSWAN)

Andhra Pradesh State Wide Area Network, is implemented by the Centre for e

Governance, Government of Andhra. This project was implemented as part of the

National e Governance Programme, seeks to establish a State Information Highway,

connecting the Government from the State Level down to Mandal level. This will be

a path for effective implementation for all e Governance Projects and Government

Departments and is the backbone for e-governance.

The vertical component of SWAN is implemented using multi-tier architecture

(typically, three-tier) with the State Headquarter (SHQ) having bandwidth of 8 Mbps

and support upto 34 Mbps is connected to the District Head Quarter (DHQ) which has

a connectivity of 2 Mbps and support upto 8 Mbps which in turn gets connected to the

each Mandal Head Quarter (MHQ) having 2 Mbps bandwidth. Each SHQ, DHQ and

MHQ point of connection is called a Point of Presence (PoP), which is a point of

bandwidth aggregation for several network links getting connected at this point.

AP State Wide Area Network (AP SWAN) connects State Head Quarters (SHQ) with

13 District Head Quarters (DHQs) and DHQs to respective Mandal (Revenue Unit)

Head Quarters (MHQs) and hence is the backbone for all Government applications of

voice, data and video services.

5690 Government offices spread across undivided AP State are connected to

APSWAN. Further, support is obtained to enable broad band penetration to rural

areas of the State by using USO funding (DOT).

VSAT technology for WAN and RF Link for MAN have been in use to interconnect

District NIC centers, Secretariat and many other Government Departments like

Education, High Court of AP, Agriculture, Industry and so on.

Registration Authority services such as Issuance of digital Signature Certificates for

Govt. officials have been undertaken by the NIC

Extensive email services are hosted on centralized Server at Delhi. Over 6000 e-mail

accounts for AP created under NIC e-mail services are provided.

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State Network Centre (SNC) at Secretariat is connected to 13 District Network

Centres (DNCs) at respective District Collectorates with 8 Mbps Bandwidth.

M/s TCS is the service provider

M/s. E&Y has been appointed as TPA and Consultants to the project are

M/s. TCIL .APTS is designated agency

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4.7. AP State Data Centre (APSDC)

The Andhra Pradesh State Data Centre (SDC) is operated by the NIC and has been

identified as one of the important element of the core infrastructure for supporting e-

Governance initiatives of NeGP. Under NeGP, State Data Centre has been set up in

AP to consolidate the services, applications and infrastructure to provide efficient

electronic delivery of G2G, G2C and G2B services.

A communication network based initiative useful for all Government departments to

have secure

500 TB where all Govt. departments’ data, application servers, web servers, and mail

servers can be resided in the state data center.

These services can be rendered by the States through common delivery platform

seamlessly supported by core Connectivity Infrastructure such as AP State Wide Area

Network (APSWAN) and Common Service Centres (CSCs) connectivity are

extended up to village level.

State Data Centre (SDC) is setup to help the government departments/ organization

rendering IT related services by maximizing IT performance through reliable hosting,

managing IT risk and providing continuous connectivity support.

The objective of SDC's State-of-the-Art hosting environment along with the breadth

of functionality and depth of expertise is to provide secure, reliable and efficient

delivery of G2G, G2C and G2B services.

Currently SDC is supporting the following Services:

1. Web Hosting Services

2. Database Services

3. SAN Storage Services

4. Support of email and SMS Services for hosted sites usage

5. Support of FTP/VPN facilities for hosted sites content updation

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AP STATE DATA CENTER ARCHITECTURE

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CONSOLIDATED HARDWARE COMPONENTS OF AP STATE DATA CENTER

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4.8. AP STATE SERVICE DELIVERY GATEWAY (SSDG)

The State Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG) aims to make all Government services

accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and

ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the

basic needs of the common man. One of the goals of the Government to meet this vision is

the need to cooperate, collaborate and integrate information across different departments in

the State and Local Government. The State e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG),

a core component in e-Governance infrastructure under the NeGP, can simplify this task by

acting as a standards-based messaging switch and providing seamless interoperability and

exchange of data across.

The emergence of many e-governance applications for different departments to provide

online services to citizens, businesses and government would require increasing interactions

amongst departments and with external agencies at various levels in State Government.

Departments would need to develop connectors/adaptors for point to point connections

between departments creating a mesh as and also tight coupling between applications. This

would lead to applications difficult to maintain and upgrade in case of version change and

change in government policies and business rules. The State e-Governance Service Delivery

Gateway (SSDG) is an attempt to reduce such point to point connections between departments

and provide a standardized interfacing, messaging and routing switch through which various

players such as departments, front-end service access providers and back-end service

providers can make their applications and data inter-operable.

Objectives of SSDG:

Act as a catalyst in enabling the building of Standards based e-Governance

applications with Gateway as the middleware to ensure interoperability.

Enable integration across Centre, State or Local Governments there by enabling

Integrated Service Delivery and a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) leading to

joined up government.

Help protect the legacy investments in software and hardware by easily integrating

them with other technology platforms and software implementations.

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De-link back-end departments/Service Providers (SP) from the front-end Service

providers

Ensuring separation of concerns of service access from the service implementation

i.e. separates the Portal, CSC, Kiosks etc from the government services which reside

in the backend departments.

Encouraging competition at the front-end by allowing independent service access

providers to provide services with varying levels of complexity, cost and service

quality levels.

Shared services can be added on to the core services as and when required, as special

common services of the Gateway without affecting the core functionality of the

Gateway, thereby providing flexibility and modularity.

Encourage back-end services to be plugged into the infrastructure as and when they

ready.

Reduce the cost of e-Governance Projects by rationalizing, distributing and

optimizing the services framework

Help the Departments backend workflow evolve gradually as the Gateway acts as a

middleware de-linking the backend from the front end. This means that even the

Departments which do not have the complete automation or work flow at the back

can still deliver e-Service to the citizens in a limited manner through the Gateway.

To cite as an example, a server may be put up at the department for message exchange

with Gateway in absence of readily available infrastructure at the department.

4.9. AP State Resident Data Hub

APSRDH Framework provides unique centralized repository for residents of AP with

citizen demographic information with UID Number and integrated with availing

scheme IDs and there by provide online citizen verification and validation services

using to the departments as part of beneficiary selection and service delivery. It

facilitates departments to implement welfare schemes more efficiently and

effectively. It ensures that the delivery of services to the intended beneficiaries.

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The Following are the services provided by APSRDH Framework through online

portal

1. Demographic Verification: The citizen profile can be viewed online with Citizen KYR

information along with beneficiary IDs by integrating all the departments data.

2. Biometric Authentication: Biometric Authentication ensures the beneficiary selection

and benefit is reaching to the intended beneficiaries on time.

3. Data Synchronization: One stop update for citizen information.

4. Data Search & Analytics: SRDH incorporates multiple modal data search function to

facilitate resident data search. Data search function has multiple applications.

5. To identify eligible citizens by evaluating eligibility criteria specified by Government

Department for a Program/Scheme; against citizens’ demographic information

available in the SRDH database

6. To describe, predict, and improve Government Program/Scheme performance in

different geographic areas of the state by analyzing registration trends among citizens

and provide roadmap for forthcoming Programs/Schemes for efficient & effective

utilization of resources.

7. SRDH hosts a set of utilities for linking Aadhaar No. of beneficiary to his/her unique

identifier in the beneficiary databases. These utilities can be used by Department

Administrators or Portal Administrator to “Seed” Aadhaar Nos. in the beneficiary

databases as well as in SRDH repository. .

URL: www.srdh.ap.gov.in

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4.10. APTSL

Andhra Pradesh Technology Services Limited (APTSL) is a wholly owned government

corporation focusing on e-Governance. It provides consultancy, procurement services and

implementation support to the government entities for their ICT initiatives.

Andhra Pradesh Technology Services Limited (APTSL) has been a pioneer in consultancy

services to all Departments of Govt. of AP. The services provided by APTSL include:

e Procurement

e Gov. Solutions

IT Procurement

Communication Networks and Applications Solutions

4.11. Video Conferencing Facilities

NIC offers video conferencing services to all 13 districts of AP on VC Network

through terrestrial links.

Exclusive Studio based VC has been commissioned for AP Secretariat and at

computer cell, collectorate offices of 13 districts.

Studio Based VC System have also been commissioned at UIDAI, APARD &

INCOIS.

Desktop VC (EVCS) services are enabled at the Offices of Chief Secretary, Chief Post

Master General, and AP Police Department.

On an average monthly 100-120 VC sessions conducted from NIC, Hyderabad Studio

Virtual class rooms and e-learning framework also has been implemented as a part of

NKN services.

APTS organization offers video conferencing facility through AP State wide Video

Conferencing facility. There is a website maintained by APTS which allows the

government departments in the state to book their slots for conducting their video

conferencing sessions through their login credentials. Also, the video conference

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schedule for the present day, present month and next month is also available in the

website. URL: http://video.apts.gov.in/, http://vidcon.nic.in/statewisestudiodetails.htm

5. ROLE OF IT IN VARIOUS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

5.1. Transport Department

The objective of computerization is to make the Transport Department Citizen friendly in

its functioning and provide SMART services to the public. It is intended to build

comprehensive database and provide on-line services to the public covering all gamut of

services of Transport Department like Issue of Driving Licenses, Registration, Permits, and

Taxation. All the offices in the state have inter-connectivity through APSWAN.

The Online Citizen Friendly Services of Transport Department (OCFST) include:

Issue of learner licences

Issue of driving licences

Renewal of driving licences

Issue of duplicate driving licences

International Driving Permit

Registration of vehicles – Same day

Issue of Duplicate Registration Certificate

Effecting Transfer of ownership

Endorsement of Hire purchase agreement / termination

Effecting Change of residence / place of business

Issue of tax tokens

Issue of Permits

Issue of Fitness Certificates

URL: www.aptransport.org

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5.2. Commercial Tax Department

The Commercial Tax Department (CTD) contributes more than 65% to the revenues of the

Government of Andhra Pradesh. During the year 2010-11, the Department collected Rs.

32,800 Crores towards the state revenue. The CTD has more than 2.25 lakh dealers on its

roll and every month more than 2 lakh dealers visit department offices just to file their

monthly VAT Returns and to make tax payment. Approximately 3,000 new dealers visit

tax offices per month for registration and another 20,000 dealers visit every month to apply

for Statutory Forms.

The online service provided by AP Commercial Tax Department include the following:

APET Returns

E Returns

E Payments

E Receipts

RTGS/NEFT Mapping

E Registrations

E Check post

5.3. Registration and Stamps Department

The e- Governance initiative taken by the Registration and Stamps Department is Computer

Aided Registration Department (CARD). CARD is a catchy name given to the comprehensive

project of computerizing one of the oldest wings of the Government “The Registration &

Stamps Department”. The project was originally conceived in August 1996 and implemented

at two test sites in August / September, 1997. Judging the project by its initial success and the

immense potential it has in transforming the concept of public service, the Government

decided to replicate it all over the state.

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5.4. Municipalities and Urban Development Department

The Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development handles planning and

development in urban and rural areas. The development is achieved through Master Plans

prepared for urban centers and rural areas.

e-Suvidha project is the e-Governance initiative of the MA&UD department aimed at

computerization of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state. The e-Suvidha project was

conceptualized to provide an Information Technology platform for all the ULBs under the

purview of the Commissioner & Director of Municipal Administration (C&DMA) office.

The project was initiated in the year 2002-03 and the implementation commenced in the year

2004.

The objective of the project was to develop an integrated state-wide solution across all

municipalities in the state as part of GoAP e-Governance initiatives. The e-Suvidha

application has eight modules designed for providing G2C and G2B services and eight

modules for internal administration purposes. These sixteen modules form the core

application which is also named as e-MAS (e-Municipal Administration System).

6. e-Governance Awards by Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh has always been a front runner in e Governance and has achieved numerous

awards. Some of the e- Governance awards received by the Government of Andhra Pradesh

include the following:

Mee-Seva won the National E-Governance Gold Award in “Outstanding Performance

in Citizen centric Service”

E Cops (Computerized operations for Police services) bagged the National Award for

“Exemplary e-Governance initiative”.

Jawahar Knowledge Center has won the Bronze icon award for “ICT Achievement

and Leadership” during the 8th National Conference on e-Governance

Forest Department, GoAP won the Silver icon award for “Trail Blazing Application

of the year”

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E- Procurement project won the Gold icon award which was implemented by the

ITE&C Department, GoAP

CARD project won the Silver icon award for “Outstanding Service Delivery” during

the 8th National Conference on e-Governance.

Andhra Pradesh won the “Best e-Governed State award” by the CSI-Nihilent e-

Governance awards.

Andhra Pradesh won 5 awards (one gold, one silver and three platinum awards) in

various categories of DATAQUEST- E-Readiness Awards 2013.