In what looks to be a shot in the arm to promote Visakhapatnam as an IT hub, the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation has prepared a layout for IT units at Kapulauppada on the city outskirts.
“After completing the drawings and other formalities, we have asked the VUDA to prepare the master plan,” APIIC Executive Director V. Raghunath told The Hindu .
He said, initially, they had earmarked an area of 200 acres in the area, very close to the IT SEZ, Rushikonda, for promotion of the sector.
During the CEOs’ conclave in September last year, the government allotted 10 acres at Rushikonda to Tech Mahindra to set up its second campus by investing Rs.250 crore. Wipro Limited has already obtained approval for SEZ status for expansion of its campus in the city. Both the projects will generate employment opportunities for 11,400 in five years. The land earmarked for IT layout at Kapulauppada was part of 1,750 acres, which was allotted to Unitech Limited for developing an ‘integrated knowledge city’ at a cost of Rs.52 lakh per acre in 2007. The allotment was later cancelled for non-payment of land cost after paying some advance.
“We want allotment of an integrated IT park on the lines of Raheja Mindspace in Hyderabad and selling of half-acre plots for NRIs by reserving 100 acres for them with the condition to generate jobs for 100 persons per plot to promote Brand Vizag,” Rushikonda IT Park Association vice-president O. Naresh Kumar said.
According to STPI Joint Director M.P. Dubey, Visakhapatnam is emerging as the best tier-II location in India for IT after Pune.
We have asked VUDA to prepare the master plan
V. Raghunath
APIIC Executive Director
