Stakeholders hopeful about new IT Policy as decks cleared for TCS centre in Vizag of A.P.

An aerial view of IT Special Economic Zone at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam.
| Photo Credit: File Photo

With the decks cleared for setting up an operational centre of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Visakhapatnam, all stakeholders of the Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services in Andhra Pradesh have set their eyes on the new IT Policy, which is likely to be released in December.

The IT sector is optimistic as the Andhra Pradesh government has already issued orders to sanction a building for the TCS centre at Rushikonda. The IT policy expired on September 30, 2024 and the stakeholders are hopeful that the new policy will bring some good news for the industry.

“The government is likely to announce the IT policy by December 10. The State Cabinet approved the IT 4.0 policy to develop Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada as major and anchor cities to make Andhra Pradesh a global knowledge economy hub,” said Andhra Pradesh Digital Technology Industry Leadership Forum convener Sreedhar Kosaraju.

“The government wanted to make major changes in the IT policy. A key official involved in formulating the policy is on leave and will be back soon. Our IT policy should not only offer attractive options for investors, such as incentives or land parcels, but also serve as a game changer for the State. This is what Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said during a meeting held to discuss the IT policy,” an official at the Secretariat told The Hindu on Wednesday (December 4).

Meanwhile, the stakeholders welcomed the government’s order, sanctioning a building for the TCS centre in Visakhapatnam.

“The TCS will be an anchor industry for any IT and ITeS company in the State, particularly those in Visakhapatnam. Sanctioning a building for the TCS in Visakhapatnam is great news for us. We hope that some more big announcements will be made for Visakhapatnam soon,” IT Association of Andhra Pradesh (Investment Committee) chairman R.L. Narayana said.

The Industries and Commerce Department has issued orders to sub-lease the Dallas Technology Centre LLP (DTC) building at Hill No 2 in Rushikonda to the TCS for the first phase of the project which promises to create employment opportunities for 2,000 IT professionals. A team of TCS assisted by government officials visited the site in November and evinced their interest to start their operations from the building, sources said.

When contacted, IT Association of A.P. president Lakshmi Mukkavilli said, “We are eagerly waiting for the new IT policy. We have big hopes from this tech-friendly government.”