IT offices for Visakhapatnam, Tirupati

While the IT turnover from entire Andhra Pradesh before bifurcation was Rs 64,354 crore with Rs 51,300 crore worth exports and Rs 13,000 crore of domestic business, Hyderabad’s contribution was 97 per cent and the rest of the state was only a meager 3 per cent.

Of the total 13 lakh employed in IT sector only 23,000 are from the present Andhra Pradesh region prior to the state bifurcation. Employment is less than 2 per cent in the AP when compared to Hyderabad.

After state bifurcation and Hyderabad went to Telangana, AP government started promoting Vizag, Kakinada, Anantapur and Tirupaty as next IT destinations and trying to attract IT firms to set up their operations. AP IT Policy 2014-2020 that was unveiled last year aims at attracting investments worth Rs 12,000 crore in the sector by 2020 and creating five lakh jobs. The AP electronics policy aims to attract Rs 30,000 crore worth of investment and creating 4 lakh jobs by 2020. State government had also planned IT Investment Regions (ITIRs) at Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Anantapur. The Detailed Project Report (DPR), for Vizag ITIR submitted by the state government is pending at the Centre for the approval.

“State government has many ambitious plans to promote IT and electronics sector in the state. As part of IT and electronics policies, two Missions have also been mooted. Besides, ITIRS were also proposed. To oversee all these projects and to decentralize, to take care of the local issues and liaison with local and outside IT entrepreneurs, these regional offices have been planned at Vizag and Tirupati. These offices are expected to function in a couple of months as the CEOs have already been recruited and are undergoing orientation at Hyderabad,” an IT & C official told this correspondent.