Andhra IT sector withstands the Telangana stir,keeps growing

Several IT majors are looking at Hyderabad to expand their operations. Existing IT hubs like Madhapur,Gachi Bowli and Kondapur will face competition from new ones being developed at Uppal,Pocharam,Shamirpet and Shamshabad.

Hyderabad is already home to nearly 1,300 IT companies,with some 100 small and big firms having set up facilities in the last two years. Facebook and JP Morgan are among those that have started operations in Hyderabad.

Royal DSM,a Netherlands-based Fortune 500 company,is looking at setting up back-office operations and an IT support services centre in the city. A team from the Dutch company met IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmiah and other senior government officials on January 12 to look for space and facilities on offer.

Many Indian companies too are looking at Hyderabad to expand their operations beyond their present bases,mostly in Bangalore or Pune. Among these is Bangalore-based Honeywell Technology Solutions,which opened a research and development centre in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Contrary to views held by many people,the situation in the state following the Telangana agitation has not hampered the growth of the IT sector in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the state, Ponnala Lakshmaiah says.

Special secretary,IT,M Gopi Krishna says that last year 4 million square feet of IT office space was taken and space totalling another 9 million square feet is being developed for use in the next couple of years. Real estate developers and builders are alive to this growing demand from IT. Besides the usual hubs,new development exclusively for IT is going on at Uppal,Pocharam,Shamirpet and Shamshabad areas. All of this will be ready by next year, Gopi Krishna says.

Initially,when the Telangana agitation started,IT companies may have had some apprehensions but it soon became clear that they were not going to be affected. I think they have also realised that any decision on Telangana will not affect the sector. Even during shutdowns and bandhs,IT saw 85 to 90 per cent attendance. Once perceptions changed,the IT sector went about its work and continued to grow. UnitedHealth Group and JP Morgan came here at a time when there were fears about the agitation. Now they are happy that they chose Hyderabad because they have grown tremendously. Last week,JP Morgan celebrated the completion of one year in the city in a big way, Gopi Krishna adds.

The IT Minister is in consultation with the Centre for setting up two greenfield IT centres at Maheswaram and Uppal on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The state government is also starting work on IT towers in tier-II cities like Vishakhapatnam,Warangal and Tirupati.

The state government is already preparing for the expected leap forward in 2011-12 by organising a two-day conference and exhibition,AdvantageAP,on March 1 and 2.

The conference and exhibition will provide a forum for IT & ITES companies,academic institutions,governments,end-customers (users) of various industries,to collaborate and leverage the enabling environment that AP has to offer. It will help showcase and understand the solutions devised and developed by AP-based IT & ITES companies,the preferential policies offered by Government of Andhra Pradesh,infrastructure availability and expansion plans,talent availability,potential offered by tier-II cities in the state and opportunities in industry sectors like manufacturing,retail,government,banking and financial services,healthcare,infrastructure,innovation and investment, an official of ITsAP says.