• Data Centres will be identified as a separate infrastructure category, given the sector specific design and construction features, the Government of Telangana shall include Data Centres related infrastructure under the building permission rules.
• Government of Telangana shall earmark a land parcel in the city for constructing a Data Centres Campus. [Project in planning stage] This Data Centres Campus, in addition to hosting Government managed data storage facilities, shall cater to companies irrespective of their size and scale.
• Large companies interested in procuring Government land in the Data Centres Campus can set up their own facility.
• Small and medium companies, which specialize primarily in servers and racks, shall be provided with built up space equipped with basic infrastructure.
• Further, every player with presence in the Data Centres Campus shall be provided access to high speed fiber and continuous water supply for heavy duty cooling systems.
• Further, given the critical nature of data hosted at the Data Centres Campus and the importance of such a centralized facility, the Government shall, at its own cost, take up the responsibility of providing adequate security in and around the campus.

Government shall also create attractive, tailor made packages for companies willing to manufacture data centre stacks in the State. In addition to providing financial incentives and subsidies, the Government shall also be among the primary consumers and procure hardware for the State Data Centre from companies manufacturing components out of Telangana.

Relevant incentives mentioned in the GO on Incentives for expansion of IT/ITeS shall be applicable for data centre firms. In addition to the IT/ITeS and Innovation Policy, the following incentives shall be provided:

• Building Rules: Up to 50% rebate shall be given on building fees as decided by CCITI.
• Land: Land shall be provided at a subsidized cost as decided by CCITI and concerned ministers.

• Procurement: Additional preference shall be given to Startups/SMEs for procurement of data centre services by the Government. Separate guidelines will be issued for the same.
• Subsidy on Lease Rentals: 25% Subsidy on Lease Rentals up to INR 5,00,000 per annum for a period of 3 years will also be provided.
• R&D grants: The Government of Telangana will facilitate to provide specific R&D grants to companies in tune of 10% of overall R&D expenses of the company’s Telangana operations or 2% of annual turnover of company’s Telangana operations or INR 5,00,000, whichever is lesser.
• Internet Costs: Data Centre Startups shall be provided 25% reimbursement on internet charges up to a maximum of INR 2,50,000 per year for the first three years of operation.
• Patent Filing Costs: The cost of filing and processing a patent application will be reimbursed to data centre startups subject to a limit of INR 2,00,000 per Indian patent awarded and INR 10,00,000 for foreign patent awarded.

Given below are the general incentives available to the ICT industry, automatically. The Data Centre firms, by virtue of being IT units, are serving global customers on 24x7x365 basis. Therefore, this industry is classified under “Essential Services” and enjoys the following benefits:

• Data Centre firms are exempt from the purview of the Telangana Pollution Control Act, except in respect of IT parks/IT SEZ campuses with built up area over 20,000 sq.mt., special permissions need to be taken from SEIAA under MoEF.
• Data Centre firms are exempt from the purview of statutory power cuts.
• Data Centre firms are exempt from inspections under the following Acts and the Rules framed thereunder, barring inspections arising out of specific complaints. These units are permitted to file self-certificates, in the prescribed formats.
  • The Factories Act, 1948
  • The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.
  • The Telangana Shops & Establishments Act, 1988
  • The Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act,1970
  • The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
  • The Minimum Wages Act, 1948
  • The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959
• General permission for three shift operations with women working in the night.
• Data Centre Firms are declared as essential service under TS Essential Services Maintenance Act.