Budget will give a push to IT sector in city, say stakeholders

Allocation of ₹6,000 crore to BharatNet welcomed

February 02, 2020 12:31 am | Updated 12:31 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM

The IT sector is upbeat over the proposals in the Union Budget-2020, and foresees bright prospects for growth in business process management units in Visakhapatnam.

Stakeholders in the industry lauded the budget proposals and said that these would give a big push to the establishment of data parks by Adani and other firms. Adani Group has proposed to set up multiple data centres at Kapulappada and other areas in the city.

“Connecting more villages through BharatNet by allocation of ₹6,000 crore will boost digital transactions. The government’s thrust on using artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and high-speed bandwidth connecting high-end technology in rural villages and providing incentives to data centres will propel India into the big league,” Rushikonda IT Park Association (RITPA) vice-president Naresh Kumar said.

“Data centres need a huge amount of electricity. Promoting green power companies with lowest tax slab of 15% will boost FDI in this sector, helping build sustainable data centres,” he said.

Promoting new manufacturing companies at one of the lowest tax slabs in the world at 15% and giving high incentives to new electronic manufacturers and phone companies would give a fillip to the IT and electronics sector, he added.

Emerging technologies

Software Technology Parks of India joint director M.P. Dubey said that the policy outline in the budget speech would give a fillip to investments in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT, data analytics and quantum computing.

He said Visakhapatnam had already emerged as a leading Tier-II hub for investments in the BPM sector, and the thrust laid on emerging technologies would lead to more startups in the AP MedTech Zone and other zones in North Andhra.

Mr. Dubey said encouragement to data parks and electronics and incentivising startups would provide new job avenues and promote a culture of innovation.

A startup promoter said that the budget thrust on promoting young entrepreneurs with easy funding and tax holiday was a welcome initiative.

IT Association of A.P. president R.L. Narayana and president-elect Sridhar Kosaraju welcomed the focus on investments in data parks, creation of a seed fund to encourage startups and promote new technologies in the health sector and quantum computing to increase speed of computers.

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