The new IT policy unveiled by the Andhra Pradesh government appears to be evoking an encouraging response with 400 investors expressing their desire to invest in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and other places.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who announced his intention to make Visakhapatnam as IT capital of A.P. by getting sanction from Centre for IT Investment Region on the lines of the one being grounded in Hyderabad and IT hubs at Vijayawada, Tirupati, Anantapur, Kakinada and six other places, has written letters to 200 IT majors.
“We have rolled out a red carpet to big, medium and small IT firms, including start-up entrepreneurs. Our intention is to develop software, hardware units as well electronic manufacturing clusters,” Minister for IT Palle Raghunatha Reddy said here on Sunday.
He said the government had set a target to increase the turnover from IT to Rs.12,000 crore and electronics to Rs.30,000 crore by 2020 by creating employment opportunities to five lakh youngsters.
Transfer of officesEvading a question on shifting of important IT, industries and other offices to Visakhapatnam from Hyderabad as per Sivaramakrishnan Committee recommendations, he told reporters that the government was firm on making Visakhapatnam the industrial and financial capital of the State.
IT incubation centre developed by APIIC at Rushikonda would be inaugurated by month-end. Thirteen acres has been allotted to Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) for setting up an electromagnetic environmental effects centre with an investment of Rs.80 crore at Gambheeram IT SEZ.
Mr. Reddy said Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, animation academy, meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibition convention centre would come up at Visakhapatnam. He said railway zone headquarters and LNG terminal would also be located here in addition to a Greenfield international airport near the city to cater to future demand.
