Hyderabad: The state’s second Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Policy aimed at achieving exports of over Rs 3 lakh crore and generating 10 lakh jobs in the sector in the next five years was unveiled by IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday.
The policy also aims at attracting investments of Rs 70,000 crore and creating three lakh jobs in the electronics sector, the government said. It focuses on digital empowerment of citizens, innovation and entrepreneurship, and aims to raise the innovation ecosystem to global levels, it said.
The policy aims to create over 50,000 jobs in Tier II and Tier III cities by establishing them as the future IT hubs.
Rama Rao said the first policy, that lasted five years “was successful at meeting the goals” and “in some cases even performing beyond the set targets." He said: "This has also shown a strong positive impact on the citizens, investors, and the government itself."
Rama Rao said that over the last year, Telangana achieved an increase of 12.98 per cent in the IT/ITeS exports over the previous year, recording a total exports of Rs1,45,522 crore. It is more than double the estimated average national growth rate, the minister said.
He said that Telangana state had passed several milestones in the IT and electronics sectors, not only in terms of the growth of the industry but also in adaptation for public purposes.
"Telangana has seen the highest annual growth rate in IT/ITeS exports in the last five years and has created over 2.5 lakh jobs, bringing is several marquee investors. The electronics sector saw over 1.5 lakh jobs being created and Telangana now accounts for the production of 7 per cent of India's electronics output and is ever-growing,” Rama Rao said.
Explaining the key initiatives of the new ICT policy, Rama Rao said basic artificial intelligence (AI) training will be provided for all technology graduates, in order for them to be prepared for the next wave of employment creation in the new technologies.
The state will set up a start-up fund with Rs 1,300 crore and a government investment committee with a goal to support over 8,000 start-ups, making Telangana the top choice for start-ups in the country, the minister added.
