New IT policy in Andhra Pradesh soon

HYDERABAD: A new IT policy is in the offing in Andhra Pradesh which will aim to more than double the export from the current Rs 32,000 crore to Rs 72,000 crore in the next five years, a top government official said on Tuesday.

Against a mere Rs 60-crore export during 1995-96, the figure has reached a whopping Rs 32,000 crore. The aim is to take the IT export to Rs 72,000 crore by 2015. The industry currently employs 2.5-lakh people and the Government aims at increasing this by another 1.5 lakh soon, Ratna Prabha, Principal Secretary (IT), told PTI here.

The Government was now looking at Tier-2 cities like Visakhapatnam, Warangal, Tirupati, Vijaywada, Kakinada and Guntur for setting up new infotech SEZs, she said.

Visakhapatnam already has SEZs and its IT export currently stood at Rs 500 crore. The state is not only proposing to give a boost to the IT sector, but also verticals like engineering products and gaming in these Tier-2 cities and also Hyderabad, Prabha said.

Stating that the new policy will be out in a month, she said her department is looking at taking IT to other parts of the State and getting new verticals.

The Government, she said, was trying to get companies, that don't have base either in Andhra Pradesh or in the country, to set up offices in the southern state. And the existing firms are being encouraged to expand operations either in the state capital or Tier-2 cities.