Jaipur, Aug. 21 -- Despite successive efforts to position Rajasthan as an emerging technology and IT destination, the state continues to lag significantly behind India's established technology hubs in both the number of units registered under the Software Technology Park (STP) Scheme and exports generated by them, according to Union government's data. An analysis of the ministry of electronics and information technology's data - presented in the Lok Sabha during the recently concluded monsoon session - for the last three financial years, 2023-24 to 2025-26, shows that Rajasthan had a cumulative 67 STP units, placing it 14th among states and Union Territories. In comparison, Karnataka recorded 1,165, Tamil Nadu 1,128, Maharashtra 1,066 and Telangana 842 during the same period. Even Odisha recorded 361 and Uttar Pradesh 310, while Haryana had 248. Rajasthan's numbers have also remained largely stagnant. It had 21 STP units in 2023-24, increasing marginally to 23 in 2024-25 and remaining at 23 in 2025-26. At the national level, the number stood at 2,059, 2,042 and 2,125, respectively. STP units registered in Rajasthan exported software and IT-enabled services worth Rs.1,798.65 crore in 2023-24, Rs.1,910.90 crore in 2024-25 and an estimated Rs.2,072.05 crore in 2025-26. The cumulative value works out to Rs.5,781.60 crore, putting Rajasthan 12th among the states/UTs for which export data were reported. Even states outside the traditional top-three IT hubs were considerably ahead of Rajasthan. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is an autonomous organisation under the Union ministry of electronics and information technology. It administers, among other activities, the Software Technology Park Scheme aimed at promoting software and IT-enabled services exports. According to the Centre's Lok Sabha reply, the STP Scheme is a "100% export-oriented scheme" and STPI provides statutory services through a single-window clearance mechanism. The national importance of the scheme can be gauged from the scale of exports. India's STP units together exported an estimated Rs.7.74 lakh crore in 2025-26. Against this, Rajasthan's Rs.2,072 crore translates to only around 0.27% of the total. The figures point to one of Rajasthan's fundamental weaknesses in the technology sector: it has yet to develop an export-oriented IT ecosystem on anything approaching the scale of Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune-Mumbai or even some emerging centres. The contrast is significant because Rajasthan is not starting without infrastructure. The state government's own investment portal says RIICO has developed four IT parks. It also highlights Jaipur's pool of more than 30,000 IT professionals and technical-institution graduates. An official associated with STPI told HT that building a strong IT ecosystem requires a combination of factors. "Employees prefer to work in cities where large companies are present, while companies are also attracted to places with a strong talent pool. It is a complete package," the official said. However, the official did not explain why states like Odisha and Gujarat are ahead of Rajasthan in STP units, despite the state having a sizeable talent pool supported by major educational and technical institutions....