New IT policy to promote Tier-2 cities in AP

The government of Andhra Pradesh is going to come up with a policy with additional incentives to support the IT and ITeS industries in Tier-II cities of the state.

Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy emphasised the creation of job opportunities for the local people in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities. 

The govt has also proposed to develop an  animation and gaming special economic zone (SEZ). “Lot of animation companies have shown interest in setting up their shops in the state, so we are working towards this to develop the SEZ,” Reddy said.

The government would come up with a new policy within a month, to help IT and industries on the land issues. The policy would be transparent and would be beneficial for the industries, he said. The state IT department has created 250,000 direct employment and around 10 lakh indirect employment in the state.

On the imposition of 18 per cent MAT (Minimum Alternate Tax) in the recent budget, Reddy said the state government would discuss the issue and write to the central government. The demand for the office space would go up to 20 million sft from the current 6 million sft in the next four years.

The ITdepartment in association with Cushman and Wakefield, a real estate consultancy, has released a special report on the ICT industry in AP at the annual IT industry awards programme.

C&W conducted the study on Hyderabad and various Tier-II cities in the state including Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Kakinada and Warangal.

The report would list the advantage each of these cities offers the potential investors in terms of IT infrastructure, talent pool, social amenities, government support and growth potential.