| By 2010, the contribution of Andhra Pradesh's software exports to the national projected figure of $60 billion is expected to be around 25 per cent. |
| Addressing the media, B V Naidu, director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Hyderabad and Bangalore, said, "As on January 1, 2006, the software exports from Andhra Pradesh touched the Rs 8,963-crore mark. Based on our projections we will be growing by 51 per cent this year to reach the Rs 12,500-crore mark." |
| Last year, the software exports from the state were Rs 8,270 crore. |
| Maximum exports have been to USA and Canada followed by Europe, APAC region, West Asian countries and South Africa. On segment basis, technology software has contributed the maximum (40 per cent) to the exports, followed by ITeS/BPO (34 per cent). |
| The total number of new software units added in the state is 127 so far, projected to reach 170 by the fiscal end. The investment by these units has been around Rs 1,015 crore with foreign companies contributing more than 70 per cent in this regard. |
| The total investment is expected to be around Rs 1,200 crore by the end of this financial year. The cumulative employment by the IT and ITeS sector in the state is expected to be around 1.5 lakh by the year end. |
| According to Naidu, Bangalore has so far been attracting a lot of venture capital (VC) support for its IT companies. |
| "VCs are, however, now looking even beyond Bangalore, at cities like Hyderabad as well. We expect the state to contribute 25 per cent to the national software exports by 2010," he added. |
| More investments to flow in |
| Andhra Pradesh can look forward to more investments in the coming months. Honeywell, a technology and manufacturing major, that has its presence in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Chennai and Pune in India, will be setting up a campus in Hyderabad within a year's time. |
| Besides, according to B V Naidu, director, STPI (Hyderabad and Bangalore), a financial and a retail major are keen on setting up their operations in the city. |
| "We are also in talks with one Indian and a multinational company in the IT/ITeS space to promote Kakinada as their destination for expansion," he added. The Government of India has also approved the starting of a new STPI centre at Kakinada. |
| Sharp Software Development India Ltd that has its presence in Bangalore, will be expanding to Tirupati shortly. |
| "Initially, the company plans to set up a 45-people team for providing software testing services, to support its Bangalore centre. We are expecting two other companies to expand to Tirupati as well," Naidu added. |
| Meanwhile, STPI will be setting up an incubation facility in Tirupati in the next two months, followed by Hyderabad in the next one year. The Tirupati and Hyderabad facilities are expected to involve an investment of around Rs 3 crore and $3 million respectively. |
| "An incubation facility has also been planned for Vijayawada in the near future," he said. STPI will also be focusing on building the brand of tier-II cities in the state via promotional videos. |
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