Andhra targets 30% of IT, ITES exports by '09

The Andhra Pradesh government is targeting a 30 per cent share of the IT and ITES export market by 2009. The new IT policy of the state, which is expected to help reach the targeted market share, is expected to be unveiled in October.

Reviewed the issues pertaining to the IT sector here today, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy expressed displeasure over the state plummeting to the fifth spot nationally, from the third place, in IT exports during the last year.

Disclosing this to the media shortly after the review meeting, J C Mohanty, principal secretary of the state government's IT department said that the twin issues of availability of quality manpower capital and world class infrastructure, the basic requirements for the growth of IT sector, would be addressed in a very aggressive way.

The government will soon convene a meeting of vice chancellors of all universities in the state to discuss the required changes in curriculum to suit the industry needs, Mohanty said.

"The software export market is expected to touch to $50 billion by 2009, according to the Nasscom-KPMG survey. To capture 30 per cent of this business, the state requires 30 million square feet of office space and over two million additional manpower by 2009," Mohanty said.

About 30 parties have evinced interest in the proposed AP broadband project and 15 of them have already purchased bid documents, Mohanty said.

"The state government also has a fallback option if the companies quote high rates to execute the project. According to our estimation, the project cost cannot go beyond Rs 600-700 crore limit," Mohanty said.