Andhra CM promotes work from home: What is the new policy, who it will help

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, Naidu posted on X that under the Andhra Pradesh IT & GCC Policy 4.0, “We’re offering incentives for developers to create IT office spaces in every city/town/mandal and supporting IT/GCC firms to generate employment at the grassroots. I’m confident these initiatives will foster greater workforce participation, especially of women professionals, who will benefit through flexible remote/hybrid work options.”

What is this policy?

The Andhra Pradesh IT & Global Capability Centres Policy 4.0 aims to attract top IT companies and allied services to the state. Under the policy, corporates will be encouraged to provide work from home options more liberally, to promote work-life balance and ensure that women get equal access to growth opportunities in the fields of science and technology.

Naidu has been talking about an employee-centric IT policy ever since his Telugu Desam Party led-NDA government came to power last June. Speaking at Rayachoti earlier this month, Naidu hoped the state could be transformed into a ‘Work-from-Home’ hub.

What else will the policy have?

The Naidu government is aggressively making efforts to woo investments in IT and industrial sectors through Speed of Doing Business reforms. Significant incentives are being provided for industrial development.

Through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Anantapur, and Tirupati are being developed into major industrial hubs. The state is also wooing global IT firms looking to expand or set up new centres outside of Hyderabad or Bengaluru.

Naidu has said that Andhra Pradesh must evolve into ‘Andhra Valley,’ similar to Silicon Valley.

According to IT, Electronics, and Communications Secretary Katamaneni Bhaskar, the state’s ambitious plan is to reshape the IT sector through the “4 Policy” framework — training 10,000 students in advanced technology; setting up 4G towers under the Digital India Fund Scheme; an MoU with HDFC has been signed to support startups; and plans are in place to attract ₹40,000 crore in investments and generate lakhs of jobs by 2029. Special provisions have been made to empower SC and ST entrepreneurs.

The government is working towards establishing 175 industrial parks across all constituencies and setting up plug-and-play industrial parks (where firms get all infrastructure already set up).

Efforts are also underway to secure ₹2,000 crore from the central government under PM-Kisan Yojana.

To boost port and fishing industries, the government is accelerating work on major projects, including Ramayapatnam Port, which is 52.91% complete, Machilipatnam Port at 31%, Mulapeta Port at 32%, and Kakinada Gateway Port at 24%, officials said. Additionally, the Bhogapuram Airport is set to be completed by March 2026 and will be named after freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju.

A 300-acre Drone City is also being developed to promote innovation in drone technology.