IT Minister N. Lokesh has said there is no truth in the talk that the State government is concentrating on development of IT in Amaravati and neglecting the potential of Visakhapatnam.
He was responding to a query at a media conference here on Friday.
“Visakhapatnam is the ‘mother ship’ as far as IT is concerned, and it will be developed into an IT destination on the eastern seaboard. But we are keen on development of IT in Amaravati, Tirupati, Anantapur, and other places as well.”
Mr. Lokesh said the government had already created 1.5 lakh sft space for IT and was in the process of developing another 5 lakh sft space in Amaravati. “There is no problem for development of IT in Amaravati,” he said.
Acknowledging that a lot needs to be done for creation of IT infra in Visakhapatnam, he said, “I am personally supervising the works at the Kapuluppada IT Park.”
On the initiatives taken by the government, he said incentives to the IT companies had been streamlined. Preferential Market Access (PMA) was being given and feedback being taken on where the industry was moving.
He commended the A.P. Electronics and IT Agency (APEITA) for providing training programmes on skill development to the job-seekers.
Patra Corp jobs
Patra Corp COO Matt Easterlin said the company would add 1,000 jobs in Visakhapatnam in the next one year, and this was expected to be the largest workforce of an IT company in the city.
Special Secretary (ITE & C) Anoop Singh, Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to the Chief Minister J.A. Choudhary, district Collector Pravin Kumar, and CEO-Promotion, APEITA, Tirumala Rao, and Patra India BPO Managing Director Lakshmi Mukkavilli were present.
Earlier, the Minister visited the IT Park and saw the progress of various works. He also inaugurated 13 new IT companies at various locations in the city.
