Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone (VSEZ) Development Commissioner A. Rammohan Reddy on Wednesday said Andhra Pradesh was in need of big IT players to transform the State into another Silicon Valley.
Mr. Reddy was speaking on investment opportunities and the scope to develop Andhra Pradesh as a hub for Information Technology at a seminar organised here for the first time by the American Telugu Association (ATA) in coordination with AP Chambers of Commerce and IT Association of AP (ITAAP).
“Hyderabad has the distinction of being a hub for IT/ITeS SEZs. Out of 31 SEZs operational in Telangana, 21 are related to IT. Telangana is home to 285 operational units in IT. Exports as on September 30, 2019 are ₹29,741 crore with global companies like Amazon, Google, Cognizant, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Tech Mahindra having their operations in the city,” Mr. Reddy said.
He said that one could set up a unit in an SEZ in just a month’s time. VSEZ, which has jurisdiction over A.P., Telangana, Chattisgarh and Yanam, has so far approved 64 new units in the past seven months with an investment of ₹8,600 crore and is expected to generate exports to the tune of ₹2.64 lakh crore and 40,415 jobs in the next five years.
Inviting NRIs to invest in A.P., Mr. Reddy said VSEZ had achieved the highest exports of ₹66,788 crore up to December 15, 2019 compared to ₹48,880 crore during 2018-19 recording a 37% increase over the last year with the highest growth among all the zones.
VMRDA chairman Dronamraju Srinivas said that the State Government was keen on developing Visakhapatnam on the back of a proposal by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to make the city the executive capital of the State.
ITAAP president R.L. Narayana said Visakhapatnam, due to proactive measures taken by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), had emerged as the fastest growth city among Tier-2 locations in the BPO sector. He said ITAAP was ready to partner with ATA to promote investments in A.P.
Sravan Shipping Services managing director G. Sambasiva Rao said that because of connectivity and readymade infrastructure, Visakhapatnam had the potential to become an international hub in IT and ITES.
AP Chambers of Commerce president Pydah Krishna Prasad welcomed the announcement to develop Visakhapatnam as the executive capital and sought steps to ensure that the tranquility of the city is not lost.
ATA president Parmesh Bheemreddy said that they are excited to play a key role to facilitate investments in A.P. He said that for the first time, they held a business seminar in the city in recognition of its growing potential.
ATA president-elect Bhuvanesh Reddy Boojala, board of trustee members Jayanth Challa, Sunny Reddy and Ranapratap Chegu, business seminar chair and Sridhar Tirupathi, standing committee chair were present.
