IT minister Sridhar Babu
To reduce pressure on Hyderabad and promote balanced regional development, the govt is encouraging the growth of the IT sector in tier-2 cities, including Nalgonda, Adilabad, Mahbubnagar, and Karimnagar. Sridhar Babu announced that the govt would soon unveil a dedicated policy for GCCs, which is currently in the drafting stage.
On the expansion of IT infrastructure beyond Hyderabad, the minister said the govt had undertaken a review of IT towers and hubs established during the previous BRS regime. “If anchor partners or industry partners come forward, the state govt is ready to develop new IT hubs/towers in the state,” he said. Looking ahead, the minister said the govt would intensify efforts to attract investments to emerging IT hubs across the state. The minister said the IT hub and tower in Adilabad would be formally inaugurated soon. Acknowledging the global slowdown in hiring across the IT sector, the minister said Telangana had nevertheless created nearly one lakh jobs over the past two years. On investment promotion, Sridhar Babu said the Congress govt is aggressively marketing Telangana through initiatives such as the Telangana Rising Global Summit, BioAsia, national and international roadshows and sector-specific conclaves.
Special initiatives are being taken to facilitate leading companies, including Cognizant, Capgemini, Wipro, Microsoft, Tech Mahindra, Accenture, TCS, Oracle, Infosys and HCL, to establish operations at the Nizamabad IT hub and tower, helping create a wider technology footprint beyond Hyderabad.
He said data centres were critical to building a robust ecosystem for IT and technology companies and therefore remained a focus area for the govt.
The govt is preparing a dedicated GCC policy, expanding digital infrastructure beyond Hyderabad, and pursuing a targeted investment strategy aimed at generating more employment opportunities for the state’s youth, he said. The minister said proposals for setting up data centres were also being explored in locations such as Godavarikhani. Additional power requirements of data centres would be met without affecting local consumption needs.