Hyderabad: Even a year after the approval of the Information Technol-ogy Investment Region (ITIR) for Hyderabad the project hasn’t moved forward.
IT minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Friday that ITIR is still in its initial stages and that a consultant will be appointed by HMDA to work out plans.
Mr Rama Rao also said that about 41,000 acres is available near Hyderabad. The ITIR requires about 50,000 acres.
The ITIR was approved more than a year ago by the Centre. However, not much has happened since then. MLCs in the TS Council sought information about the ITIR project.
KTR said that proposals worth Rs 3,250 crore have been sent to the Centre for approval. “We have sent proposals worth Rs 3,250 crore but the state will have to spend Rs 13,000 crore.
In this Budget we have given '90 crore,” he stated. Asked about the land required by Congress MLC M.S. Prabhakar Rao he said, “About 41,000 acres is available.
The processing area will be 41 per cent and the non-processing area 59 per cent.” The ITIR, which will be developed over 25 years, with an investment potential of Rs 3.1 lakh crore is expected to generate substantial revenues.
The state is expecting Rs 30,000 crore as tax revenues. KTR said that engineering colleges would be linked to industry to improve employability.
When asked by the leader of the opposition D. Srinivas on whether there would be reservations for TS graduates in ITIR, he said that quotas can’t be insisted on but non-skilled jobs would be for locals.
Education minister G. Jagdish Reddy said the government wants to ensure that every TS family has an employee working in ITIR.
