Vizag software exports may cross Rs100cr this fiscal

Visakhapatnam city is expected to witness a spurt in its software exports from Rs 15 crore in 2003-04 to more than Rs 100 crore in the current financial year, mainly due to HSBC's BPO and call centre, which will become operational tomorrow.

Speaking to Business Standard, Govind Rao Adapa, secretary to the Visakhapatnam Information Technology Association (VITA), said: "At present, there are about 40 software units in and around Visakhapatnam. These units' turnover from software exports crossed Rs15 crore last fiscal. With HSBC's BPO and call centre becoming operational from tomorrow, the software exports from Visakhapatnam is likely to cross the Rs 100 crore mark in the current financial year."

"VITA has been requesting the state government to set up a Hitech park at Visakhapatnam with a capacity to accommodate at least 100 small and medium scale software units, for the benefit of software unit operators. Software units in Vizag have been engaged in software development, medical transcription, BPO and information technology-enabled services. But now, all these units are scattered across the city, and are facing several problems mainly due to the non-availability of required bandwidth and communication facilities," Rao said.

"If the state government sets up the Hitech park, all the units will come under one roof, thereby getting more bandwidth and other communication facilities with less expenditure. The park will also attract several other new software operators to Vizag in a big way," Rao added.

JC Mohanty, principal secretary to information technology and communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh, will inaugurate HSBC's Hexagon House on June 28.

"Visakhapatnam offers skilled manpower with lower attrition rates and salaries when compared to other cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. In addition to this, the rents and other expenditure are also relatively low. VITA, therefore, is requesting the government for a separate hitech park for small and medium software unit operators. We are also seeking power subsidy, investment subsidy and tax concessions to promote the IT industry and software exports from Vizag," he said.