With IT majors descending on Vizag, signs of transformation apparent

Visakhapatnam: In a step to attract IT majors to Andhra Pradesh and help generate employment, the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) intends to set up an IT facility in Visakhapatnam.

The decision towards this direction was made following the recent visit of State HRD Minister Nara Lokesh to the headquarters of Tata Group.

Apparently, the move is expected to create employment to close to 10,000 professionals.

As soon as the decision was made with the TCS officials, Lokesh took to ‘X’ (formerly known as ‘Twitter’) to announce, stating, “I am happy to announce the development of an IT facility by TCS that would house 10,000 employees. We are committed to offering a best-in-class investment climate to corporations driven by our motto of ‘speed of doing business’. This investment by TCS is an important milestone as we work to make AP as India’s No.1 destination to do business.”

Even as the state government is considering cautious steps to re-emerge Andhra Pradesh as the most preferred investment destination, the new development takes place following HCL’s recent investment in Visakhapatnam.

Last month, when the HRD Minister came to Visakhapatnam, he mentioned that efforts are being taken to develop Visakhapatnam as the fifth largest economic city in the country from the present 10th position. As a part of it, concrete measures are considered to transform Visakhapatnam as not just an IT hub but also as the data centre capital of the world. “The focus now is on the speed of doing business and the cost of doing business,” conveyed Lokesh during an infrastructure summit hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry in the city.

With a revived industry-friendly policy in store, Andhra Pradesh is bracing up to witness signs of growth district-wise.

Ushering in the signs of transformation, Rushikonda IT Park Association vice-president O. Naresh Kumar, shared, “The IT facility of the TCS would be a big leap towards boosting the IT ecosystem in Visakhapatnam and in the state.”

For the past five years, a host of buildings that were meant to be converted into IT companies remained vacant. As the previous government was focusing on developing Visakhapatnam as the executive capital of AP, such buildings continued to be unoccupied with plans to utilise them as government offices.

After the TCS proposed to set up its shop in Visakhapatnam, there is a larger scope for other companies to follow suit.