Hyderabad: Bhaskar Pramanik, the chairman of Microsoft India, on Monday met Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao and information technology minister K.T. Rama Rao at the Secretariat and expressed the software giant’s willingness to expand operations in Hyderabad.
The CM and the IT minister welcomed Microsoft's expansion plans and promised land and other facilities required for the project.
“Microsoft’s proposal to expand it’s operations in Hyderabad proves beyond doubt that the city continues to remain the most preferred destination for global IT firms. We will enhance the brand image of Hyderabad further in the coming days and consolidate the city’s top position in IT sector,” Mr Rama Rao later said.
Mr Rama Rao said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is also expected to visit Hyderabad and meet the CM in August. The IT department officials view Mr Pramanik’s visit as a prelude to Mr Nadella’s visit next month.
The IT minister said IT majors such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Congizant, TCS etc., too are planning to expand operations in the city and are likely to submit proposals to the state shortly.
“The expansion plans of these IT majors are expected to provide 40,000 direct jobs, besides indirect employment to several thousands. The ITIR project announced by the Centre is also in the pipeline. We are aiming to create 15 lakh direct and 35 lakh indirect jobs in the IT sector alone in the next five years,” Mr Rama Rao said.
Hinduja Group chairman Ashok Hinduja, and ITC Ltd executive director Pradip Dhobale also met the CM and discussed their expansion plans in Telangana.
The Telangana CM urged Mr Hinduja to ensure T-state’s share in power supply from the company’s newly project in Vizag. ITC, meanwhile, is planning to set up a paper manufacturing plant with an investment of Rs 3,500 crore in Telangana.
