Government of India has declared software as one of the extreme focus area for growth of exports. Therefore, Govt. of India announced a special scheme to promote software exports called "The Software Technology Park (STP) Scheme".  
  
STP Scheme is implemented through Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) which is an autonomous society of Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of India. 

Salient Features of STP Scheme  

• Approvals are given under Single Window Clearance Mechanism 
• Projects Costing upto US$ 10 Millions with Indian Investment & NRI funds on non-repatriable basis are cleared by local STP authorities at centre level itself 
• 100% Foreign Equity is permitted 
• All the imports in the STP units are completely duty free 
• Import of Goods on loan, free of cost & lease basis is permitted 
• Re-export of Capital Goods brought on loan/lease/free of cost is permitted 
• Domestic purchases are completely excise duty free 
• Domestic purchases are eligible for the benefit of deemed exports to the suppliers 
• The sales in Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) are permissible upto 30% of the value of Exports 
• STP units are exempted from corporate income tax upto Year 2010. 

- Export Performance for five years US $ 0.25 million or 5 times the CIF value of imported capital goods whichever is higher   
  
- Net Foreign Exchange Earnings as a Percentage 
NFEP =    A-B x 100 = 20% (Minimum) 

Where `A' is the FOB value of exports by the STP units; and `B' is sum of total CIF value of imported inputs and Capital Goods and the value of Foreign Exchange outflow on commission, royalty, dividends, Internal and External borrowings etc.  

Services Offered by STPI, Mohali      

Data Communication Network One of the objectives of Software Technology Parks of India is to provide effective Data Communication Facilities to the esteemed Software Exporters. In persuasion of this objective the STPI established its own gateways at its nodal centres located in different parts of the country.   STPI Mohali provides High Speed Data Communication Link, access to Internet Services through a public TCP/IP Networks World Wide. This network is then connected to E3 IBS Ku Band Earth Station which will serve as an International Gateway. The customer premises in India are connected to their client abroad by gateway which is located at Mohali through a radio link using point to point connection. This will facilitate any company operating in India or abroad connected to Internet, and to access our Data Communication Network. 
  

SoftPOINT (International Leased Line)  SoftPOINT offers point to point International Leased High Speed Data Communication links of 64 Kbps upto 2 Mbps. The customer premises in India are connected to their client located abroad by gateway which is located at Mohali through a radio link using point to point connection.   The service are available round the clock and charges are fixed irrespective of the time and volume of data transferred by the user.  
  
Datacom Service Tariff  

Tariff for International Private Leased Circuits (IPLCs) 
Application Date : 1^st January 2001

Data Rate Kbps	Half Circuit Annual Charges	Local Loop Charges	One Time Installation Charges
	INR	INR	INR
64K	6.80	1.00	2.00
128K	12.30	1.80	2.00
192K	17.00	2.50	2.00
256K	21.10	2.50	2.00
384K	27.30	3.00	2.00
512K	32.70	4.00	4.00
768K	43.60	5.00	4.00
1 Mb	54.50	5.00	4.00
2 Mb	75.00	6.00	4.00
8 Mb	285.00	NA	NA
34 Mb	1120.00	NA	NA
45 Mb	1425.00	NA	NA

Registration Charges : Rs. 10,000/-  for all data rates 

(Rs. in Lacs)   NOTE :  Tariff indicated is for Indian Half Circuit. The customer is required to pay Foreign Half Circuit charges to the foreign end service provider.  One time Installation charges for Microwave include cost of 15 Meters height Mast. In case any other design or more height is required, the customer will bear additional charges on actual basis.  While upgrading the bandwidth the additional registration charges for the higher bandwidth will be charged.  In case of shifting, actual expenditure on shifting will be borne by the customer.  
 Registration & One time installation charges         = In Advance Annual Charges &  Local Loop Service Charges = Quarterly in Advance 
Application can Download from ftp://stpm.soft.net/ (Save the file by using  `Save Target As')  

SoftLINK (Shared Internet Connection) 

SoftLINK is the TCP/IP based shared Internet service which uses its own International Gateway for the upstream connectivity.   The TCP/IP service is called shared Internet as the upstream bandwidth is shared among the users. The user connected on the service has access to complete Internet services available world wide such as :

* E-mail  

FTP - (File Transfer Protocol) Remote Login WWW (World Wide Web) UseNET Database Access