Bid to rope in Microsoft to set up campus in Visakhapatnam

September 29, 2014 12:09 am | Updated November 16, 2021 11:35 pm IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

The Andhra Pradesh government is making all efforts to make IT giant Microsoft to set up a campus in Visakhapatnam.

An IT Department official said as part of the government’s decision to promote the IT sector in a big way, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who will address more than 150 top executives from various companies at the CEOs’ conclave here on Monday, was approaching various multinationals to open their campuses in the State. “As Microsoft has an IT centre in Hyderabad, it may be convinced of the need to invest in electronic manufacturing area in Visakhapatnam, which is being developed as the IT capital of AP,” he said on condition of anonymity.

The issue assumes significance in the light of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s visit to Hyderabad on Monday. The government, post-bifurcation, had decided to set up IT clusters in the State and had accordingly resolved to invite multinationals that could act as anchor clients in those clusters.

Sources said the CM was keen to attract major investments to Visakhapatnam. “There is a foundation, and it is easier to build on that,” IT Advisor J. Satyanarayana said. During his recent visit to the city, Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) managing director Anil Bhansali had said the company had no plans to establish a campus in the city.

The Centre had promised to sanction an IT Investment Region on the lines of the one established in Hyderabad in and around Visakhapatnam post-bifurcation. Sources said the CM had recently requested the Centre to approve the project for which the APIIC, the nodal agency, had identified 10,000 acres of processing and non-processing area. Ernst &Young prepared the project report.

Besides laying emphasis on promoting start-ups, the government will make a serious effort to rope in big ticket projects at the CEOs’ conclave. TCS, Oracle and Infosys are also being approached to invest in the State.

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