Five IT clusters/integrated satellite townships have been planned along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to sustain the current growth in the sector and attract more multinational companies. These will complement the planned development of ten IT hubs in major towns in the State.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the State Minister for Information Technology and Communications, Ms Sabitha Reddy, said that these townships and IT hubs aim not only to expand the technology sector but also to decongest the rapidly growing city.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the State Minister for Information Technology and Communications, Ms Sabitha Reddy, said that these townships and IT hubs aim not only to expand the technology sector but also to decongest the rapidly growing city.As a part of the State Government efforts to complement the role played by the technology sector, there are plans to groom students from the rural areas through the Jawahar Knowledge Centres (JKCs), fine-tune their skills and make them employable. The IT sector currently employs about 1.71 lakh people and it is expected to create about 80,000 new jobs during the year. Of this, the State expects about 20,000 to be from the JKCs, which generate employable engineering graduates.
Referring to IT exports from the State, Mrs Reddy said that the State recorded a 51 per cent growth during 2005-2006 as against the country's average of 36 per cent. It achieved exports of Rs 12,521 crore and this is projected to top Rs 19,000 crore during 2006-2007.
IT companies are also moving to tier-II cities. For instance, in Visakhapatnam, Satyam, Wipro, Infotech, Color Chips and Kenexa are expanding and there are already indications that more companies are locating centres in Warangal, Vijayawada, Tirupathi and Kakinada.
Source: The Hindu
