Minister launches Tech Hub in Vizag

Lokesh hands over allotment letters to Patra India BPO Services and WNS

Excited lot: Employees of new IT companies taking a selfie with Minister N. Lokesh at the Tech Hub in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

IT Minister N. Lokesh on Thursday handed over allotment letters to noted BPOs – Patra India BPO Services and WNS – after launching Tech Hub at the 11-floor new building of Tech Mahindra, which was taken on lease by the AP Electronics and IT Agency (APEITA).

The two global BPO firms will get two floors each with a built-up space of over 30,000 sft. WNS, which currently employed 900, will add 1,600 in the new facility, taking its total manpower in the city to 2,500. Patra BPO has at present 1,600 employees, and the new facility, as part of its expansion, will create 800 jobs.

IT units inaugurated

The Minister, who earlier launched eight IT units — Amzur, Digipub Apex, ID Analytics, InsuranceBox, Inventrax, VGS-Provigil, Virtual Offshore, and Vismaya Premedia — said in less than two months, the Tech Hub would have two large BPO companies to add close to 2,500 jobs by March 2019. He said Tech Hub had further space for two more companies. Stating that they were keen on developing the ecosystem in the city by providing 70,000 jobs by 2019, he said the Tech Hub itself would house about 4,000 employees by March 2019. Earlier, he interacted with the promoters of the new companies that started their operations at the Tech Hub.

Millennium Tower

Mr. Lokesh said the Millennium Tower, which is under construction to create a built-up space of two lakh sft at the sea-facing Rushikonda, would be ready for allotment of space by October. Wipro, which has a technology centre opposite Tech Mahindra, would provide jobs to 3,500 people. Tech Mahindra would employ nearly 1,000 people in the next few months on its expansion.

Reiterating the government’s commitment to create one lakh IT jobs in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Amaravati, and other places in the State by 2019, he said they were keen on promoting next generation technologies in the city.

Special Chief Secretary and IT Adviser to Chief Minister J.A. Chowdary told The Hindu that the new companies that were allotted space at the Tech Hub would specialise in blockchain, Internet of Things, analytics, and artificial intelligence. He said the inauguration of Tech Hub was a red letter day in transforming Visakhapatnam into an IT hub. NRI affairs adviser Ravi Vemuru, APEITA CEO (Promotions) Tirumalla Chamalla, GITAM University president and MLC M.V.V.S. Murthi, District Collector Pravin Kumar, and IT Association of AP president Ravi Eswarapu were present.