In response to a question by BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday that the value of IT exports from Andhra Pradesh in 2021-22 was just ₹926 crore.
This was 0.14% of the IT exports from India. In the last five years, Andhra Pradesh’s share in IT exports was always below 0.2%.
Asked about the potential for Andhra Pradesh and Visakhapatnam to emerge as a major IT hub in the country, Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that as per the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), Andhra Pradesh had good infrastructure, large manufacturing base, talented youth and business-friendly environment for the development of IT/ITES industry.
Asked about the presence of other incubation centres in Andhra Pradesh, the Union Minister said that five incubation centres were functional in Andhra Pradesh under the scheme, ‘Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs TIDE 2.0’, to support ICT startups.
Of these, two were operational in Visakhapatnam and one each in Tirupati, Guntur, and Chittoor.
Further, the STPI was also having three incubation centres in Kakinada, Vijayawada and Tirupati and four STPI centres in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Tirupati and Vijayawada, the Minister added.
Asked about the reasons for delay in establishing a full-fledged incubation centre of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in Visakhapatnam, the Union Minister said that a joint inspection was carried out by the STPI and the Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS), but no suitable space was found.
He added that Andhra University had consented in January 2023 to provide one acre of land to the STPI for setting up of state-of-the-art incubation centre in the university located in Visakhapatnam.
Speaking on this issue, Mr. Narasimha Rao said Andhra Pradesh accounted for 10% of the IT manpower in the country, but had a share of below 0.2% in IT exports.
“This is due to lack of positive efforts by the State government. This is compelling the youth from the State to migrate to other States in search of jobs,” Mr. Narasimha Rao said.
