AP govt pins hopes on Centre's plans to be next big IT hub

CNBC-TV18's Appaji Reddem reports that with the central government all set to allocate three IT investment regions (ITIRs) within the next three months, the Andhra Pradesh government is confident it will host at least one ITIR.

Appaji Reddem, Reporter ,CNBC-TV18

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With the central government all set to allocate three IT investment regions (ITIRs) within the next three months, the Andhra Pradesh government is confident it will host at least one ITIR. CNBC-TV18's Appaji Reddem reports on the state government's latest efforts to enrich the investment climate in the region.

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Bangalore maybe India's IT capital, but Hyderabad wants to create its own niche in the sector. And for this, the state government has pinned hopes on winning the Centre's nod soon for a proposed IT investment region (ITIR) which involves an investment of Rs 2,300 crore.

Ponnala Lakshmaiah, IT minister, Andhra Pradesh, "The investment for external as well as internal infrastructure at more than Rs 2,300 crore gives an impetus to the IT industry. From the airport, it hardly takes half an hour to Madhapur, with an outer ring road of 70 kms. With the Metro coming up all these regions will be connected and it will be a major boost to the IT industry."

An ITIR is an integrated investment region with IT, ITeS and hardware parks, in addition to townships and connected to airports and high-speed rail networks. The Andhra Pradesh government hopes this in turn will encourage IT majors to consider Hyderabad as a significant investment destination.

KV Kamath, chairman, Infosys , "The IT sector employs around 2,75,000 people in Hyderabad. World class infrastructure, single-window clearances for projects will keep the engine accelerating. As I said, at Infosys, we are happy to grow at 25% in Hyderbad because everything we seek is available here."

In fact, the state is already building the environment necessary to supplement the proposed ITIR, by increasing focus on electronics and hardware manufacturing as well.

Sachin Pilot, MoS, IT & communications, "We should not only be able to cater to domestic demand, but become global supplier for electronic manufacturing goods. I'm happy to report that the Prime Minister is very keen that the IT ministry leads the way in making sure that electronics and hardware manufacturing is the next big thing to come out of India and hopefully from Andhra Pradesh."

The state government is clearly making renewed efforts to enhance and enrich the investment climate in the region, but analysts say that political instability and Telangana agitation could make the quick turnaround of projects a challenge for Andhra Pradesh.

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