Hyderabad: Hyderabad has achieved Information Technology exports of Rs.66,276 crore during 2014-15, a growth of 15.7 percent over the previous year and nearly three percent higher than the national growth rate, a minister said on Tuesday.
Telangana’s Information Technology Minister K. Tarakarama Rao told reporters that Hyderabad’s growth in IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) exports is 2.7 percent higher than the national average.
The city also created nearly 50,000 new jobs in the sector during the year. The direct employment in the sector during 2014-15 stood at 371,774 against 323,396 during 2013-14.
The minister released the annual report of IT/ITES department on Tuesday, which also marked the first year of the Telangana state and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.
Hyderabad stands in second position by contributing 11 percent of total IT exports from the country.
KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said they were heading in a right direction to achieve the goal of doubling the IT exports to Rs.120,000 crore by 2019.
KTR, who is son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said the government was on course to make Hyderabad the most preferred IT destination in the country. Stating that the investor confidence is back in Hyderabad, he said the brand Hyderabad was growing from strength to strength. “Hyderabad is back in business and is happening again,” he said.
The IT minister, who attracted half a billion dollar investment during his visit to the US last month, said Google would be building a campus in Hyderabad, which will be biggest outside the US.
Online retail giant Amazon has also announced plans to develop the biggest campus and fulfillment centre outside the US. The 2.5 million square feet centre is coming up with an investment of Rs.1,800 crore. This will be Amazon’s biggest investment in India.
KTR said said besides software, the government was focusing on electronic hardware manufacturing. It is trying to attract mobile phone, LED, solar panel and chip manufacturers in the two clusters created for the sector.
He will be leaving for Taiwan and Hong Kong on Wednesday to attract investment in electronic hardware manufacturing. He said a leading mobile phone manufacturer will be announcing soon its plans to set up a plant in Hyderabad.
Speaking about the other initiatives to promote IT/ITES, he said India’s biggest incubation facility T-Hub will be inaugurated in 15 to 20 days. “T-Hub will be a startup capital of the country. The government wants to be facilitator for budding entrepreneurs,” he said
The government plans to have a branch of T-Hub in Silicon Valley to have direct access to venture capital community.
The minister, who also launched Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK), said it would work with Nasscom and JNTU, Hyderabad to develop the skills of students.
A data analytics park, a cyber security training academy, photonics valley, new IT clusters around Hyderabad, a tower for MSME sector and Gaming, Animation, Media and Entertainment City are the other initiatives proposed by the government in Hyderabad.
As part of the digital Telangana plan, the proposes to provide broadband connectivity to every house in the state by using the one lakh km pipeline to be laid under Water Grid project.