Panel okays land deals with IT firms

Sending a positive signal to the IT industry, the state government has taken a positive view on the allotment of land to 19 IT and ITES companies during the last sixteen months of the Naidu regime.

The list also includes three mega projects, namely, Bank of America, HSBC and Infotech Enterprises Ltd.

According to official sources, the 'group of ministers' headed by finance minister K Rosaiah recently concluded that the agreements and the MoUs were executed in accordance with the information and communication technology (ICT) policy of the state.

The committee is learnt to have felt that these projects would attract investments in the state and also offer huge employment generation.

The allotment of land made to the companies and bodies include, Aga Khan Foundation Charitable institution, Computer Associates, Convergys, Dell, HCL Infosystems, Ispace, Kanbay, L&T Infocity, L&T Infocity-Ascendas-Cyber Pearl, Microsoft, Polaris, Rahejas, RMZ Corp, TCS, VJIL, VisualSoft.

It may be recalled that soon after coming to power, the Congress government headed by Y S Rajasekhara Reddy stated that the current ICT policy would be continued.

The GoM's decision on the land allotment in the above 19 instances is viewed as a clear example of this commitment.

The group is of the view that the members of the IT industry have become the brand ambassadors for Andhra Pradesh in promoting the state globally as the best place to invest in India.