AGARTALA, Sep 25 (TIWN / IANS): Tripura today inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up the second Software Technology Park of the state. The MoU was signed by Software Technology Park of India director PK Das and IT Director Vikas Singh at the civil secretariat here today.

Speaking to reporters later this afternoon, state Information and technology (IT) secretary Puneet Aggarwal said that the Park is expected to give direction to the huge technical alma mater created in the state in the presence of several technical institutes including a National Institute of Technology (NIT). Hundreds of students pass graduate and post-graduate courses in different engineering trades each year but their skills couldn’t be properly utilized due to lack of due infrastructure, the official said.

The initiative for setting up a Software Technology Park in Tripura was initiated by former Industries and Commerce Minister Jitendra Chaudhury who initiated talks with STPI Director General Omkar Rai in 2013 for setting up a project in the state. He met STPI DG Omkar Rai in October last year as a part of his continued effort to initialize the Park in the state.

India currently operates 54 Software Technology Parks in different states.

Tripura is yet to announce its Information Technology Policy anyway.

Four software technology parks are already operational in the NE India at Guwahati, Imphal, Gangtok and Aizawl.

Software Technology Parks were first envisaged by the Government of India under the STPI in 1991 as a way of encouraging, promoting and boosting software exports from the country besides expansion of the information technology infrastructure and software industry.