After TCS, CTS, AP may give land at Rs 1 per acre to Accenture

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Government’s decision to allot precious lands on payment of a paltry amount is evoking a good response in bringing tech giants to the State mainly Visakhapatnam with the decision of Accenture to seek 10 acres to set up a software development centre here.

The reports on Accenture’s proposal has brought cheers among the investors and the IT fraternity believes that this will help in making Visakhapatnam a prominent tech hub. “The decision will further brighten prospects to make the city a mega tech hub,” Potluri Bhaskara Rao, president of AP Chambers, toldBizz Buzz.

The 28th national conference on e-governance, concluded in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday evening also adopted a resolution named (Visakhapatnam Declaration’ exuding confidence that the city has all the ingredients to emerge as a prominent tech hub like Bengaluru and Hyderabad,

IT , Electronics and Education Minister Nara Lokesh, who recently held a roadshow in London to seek investments in Andhra Pradesh, said several mega companies are now getting attracted to tier-two cities and Visakhapatnam offers everything as an ideal destination.

Lokesh played a key role in offering land at 99 paise per acre to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Rs.1 per acre to Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) to set up their campuses in Visakhapatnam. While TCS is getting ready to launch its operations at Millennium Tower temporarily till the construction of the permanent campus next month, Cognizant is scheduled to kick-start its operations early next year.

The city has a small-time presence of Infosys at a leased accommodation at Rushikonda IT Park. There is buzz that Infosys is also being offered land at Rs.1 per acre.

IT, Electronics & Communications Principal Secretary Bhaskar Katamneni said Visakhapatnaman has a bright future as the city is positioned as ‘The Blue Edge of IT and Innovation’. He said the city is fast developing as a popular tier-2 cities for IT and emerging technologies. Andhra Pradesh Government wants to offer land under the scheme announced in the Assembly to bring big ticket projects so that employment opportunities are created for locals and those settled abroad, may also opt for reverse migration mainly after the Trump Administration’s decision to increase H-1B fee to $1 lakh.

After signing an MoU for an AI-propelled data centre by Google, the government, according to reports, is allotting 80 acres near Turlavada (Anandapuram) on the way to the proposed Bhogapuram International Airport. The price of land being finalised for Google data centre is not yet known. Google is expected to invest over Rs50,000 crore in Visakhapatnam, the largest ever outside the United States.

Adani Data Centre project, which recently received clearance from the Coastal Regulation Zone authorities, is envisaged with an investment of Rs21,844 crore viz. Rs14,634 at Madhurawada and the remaining at Kapulauppada. The project will meet its energy requirements by generating solar power.

TCS has been allotted 21.16 acres for its decision to invest Rs1,370 crore and provide jobs to 12,000 in phases. On the other hand, Cognizant announced to invest Rs1,583 crore by generating 8,000 jobs in a phases manner. It has been allotted 22 acres.