As the government is gearing up to announce a comprehensive action plan for inviting investments into electronic hardware and software industry, the administration in Anantapur and Chittoor districts is working over time to identify suitable land for housing a major chunk of these units.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced his resolve to develop world-class IT infrastructure by promoting electronic corridors one each in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Anantapur-Chittoor. The government is keen on leveraging the locational advantage offered by the Anantapur-Chittoor corridor to promote accelerated growth of the industry and ancillaries.
The Anantapur-Chittoor corridor, experts such as Industrial Development Forum chairman J.A. Chowdary said, had distinct advantages like their close proximity to IT hubs like Bangalore and Chennai, availability of requisite social and physical infrastructure in Tirupati and availability of ports for receiving/sending bulk of electronic components.
The Anantapur district administration has identified more than 15,000 acres for various development projects. District Revenue Officer Hemasagar told The Hindu that the district administration identified the land in Chilamathur, Lepakshi and adjoining mandals for establishing an IT and hardware park.
The identified land is less than 100 km from Bangalore airport and would be ideal for the companies to locate their operations as Bangalore has reached its saturation levels. “It is less than an hour’s drive on the four-lane highway connecting Anantapur to Bangalore airport,” Mr. Hemsagar said. The district administration is on the look out for another 1,000 acres that could be utilised for housing any of the premier institutes as assured by the Central government.
Not to lag behind, the Tirupati administration has commenced the process for acquiring land for Tirupati international airport. The administration has so far acquired 240 acres, of the 700 acres required for expansion of the airport into an international one. Of the identified land, a mere seven acres is reportedly under litigation while the remaining stretch is ready for occupation. “We will hopefully hand over the stretch to the authorities in a month’s time,” Chittoor Collector K. Ramgopal said.
The authorities are sparing no effort in ensuring availability of adequate land following the government’s decision to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and a Central university in and around the temple city. A report has already been submitted to the government regarding 1,000 acres within a radius of 15 km from the airport.
Published - July 07, 2014 11:03 pm IST