Hyderabad IT Investment Region to create 1.5 mn jobs

The IT Investment Region (ITIR) proposed to be developed in Hyderabad in two phases over a period of 25 years, will create an employment potential of 1.5 million, according to state information and communication technology (ICT) minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah.

The ITIR, planned with an investment of Rs 2,300 crore, will have external infrastructure with over 50,000 acre of IT and ITeS area.

“In a down economy, corporations are looking forward to cutting down on the costs and that is where India, specifically Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad, is taking an advantage by offering arbitrage benefits,” he said at the e-India summit 2012 here on Thursday.

The state firmly believes that investing in IT is not a luxury but a need. IT is a differentiator, Lakshmaiah said, adding corporations would and should continue to invest in IT regardless of the economic position, failing which they would fall behind in competition.

Andhra Pradesh, which is home to 1,206 IT companies employing about 300,000 professional directly, accounts for about 11 per cent of the total employment in the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and the special economic zones (SEZs) in the county.

On the talent front, the state produces over 250,000 engineers annually, by far the largest in the country.