: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday exuded confidence that IT major Microsoft would set up its 11th development centre in Andhra Pradesh.
After inaugurating eight companies established at VUDA complex at Seethammadhara by U.S.-based NRIs, Mr. Naidu said talks with top officials of Microsoft had evoked an encouraging response and declared that they were expecting it to open its development centre in the State shortly.
Selling hard the investment potential in Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Vijayawada and Tirupati, he told NRIs that the government had unveiled a policy to develop the entire coast from Tada to Itchhapuram on the lines of the Silicon Valley. He said the AP Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRET) was instrumental in signing MoUs with 40 companies based in the U.S. for establishing their units in Visakhapatnam.
“Now eight companies have opened their offices here providing jobs to 300 local youths. Another 42 are lined up and they will also set up their units in the city,” he said and predicted a bright future for Visakhapatnam as an IT hub.
Comprehensive
ecosystem
Promising facilities for providing night life in the city, he said Visakhapatnam had a marvellous landscape with green-capped hills and sun-kissed beaches. “I have no doubts that the city will develop a lot in the field of IT,” he said and recalled how when he was Chief Minister of undivided A.P. in the mid-1990s, Hyderabad lacked basic facilities such as air connectivity and infrastructure.
He said they would provide comprehensive ecosystem with a slew of incentives to attract investors from within and outside India.
The Chief Minister said IT Serve Alliance, a consortium of 500 IT companies mostly with Telugus as members with 60,000 to 70,000 employees and an investment of $2 trillion, was keen on wooing investors to Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Vijayawada, Tirupati, and other parts of the State.
APNET CEO and advisor to A.P. Government Vemuru Ravi Kumar said they were very happy with the excellent support rendered to them by VUDA, the district administration and the A.P. Electronics & Information Technology Agency (APTEA) in roping in 40 NRI companies from the U.S. to invest in Visakhapatnam.
Ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, K. Atchan Naidu, MPs K. Haribabu, Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Rushikonda IT Park Association president and MLA N. Vishnu Kumar Raju were present.
