AP to set up IT concept cities in 1,000-2,000 acres

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Government has decided in-principle to develop IT concept cities across the State each in an extent of 1,000 to 2,000 acres to generate jobs and create new business opportunities for the entrepreneurs.

Addressing CXO roundtable conference at Vijayawada on Friday, Minister for Industries and IT Mekapati Goutham Reddy said the concept city is purported to have SEZ and non-SEZ areas. Connectivity to highways and airports, world-class common and vibrant social infrastructure, plug and play units and co-working spaces, serene atmosphere with high quality life and fastest approvals to reduce time to start operations will be highlights of the concept cities.

He said the government was keen on actively engaging multiple marquee IT companies for new projects as well as expansion of existing operations. He said they were leveraging technologies for executing various schemes promised by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The Minister said the government's experience in technology proved to be a game-changer in its swift and dynamic response to the Covid-19 pandemic. "Various departments and organisations of the government have successfully launched digital platforms that help continuously and effectively monitor various schemes.

Harping on AP State Fibernet to achieve last-mile connectivity and integrated technology parks to create best working environment in a post-pandemic world, he said the government was proposing to establish an integrated technology park consisting of a high-end IT skills university, incubation centres, Centres of Excellence (CoEs), labs, co-working spaces, State Data Centre and offices of IT, Electronics and Communication Department in Visakhapatnam.

Reddy said the co-location of these facilities in a single integrated campus would enable optimisation of the new resources and help leverage synergies between industry, academia and citizens.

"Within IT park, the government is also going to help setup incubation centres, tinkering labs, CoEs in collaboration with private sector partnerships. Co-working plug and play IT office space will be created with a built-up area of 25 lakh sft, suitable for at least 25,000 seats/employees," he disclosed.

The Minister said the government wanted to strengthen digital infrastructure up to gram panchayat level by providing high-speed internet, establishing digital libraries with video conference facility. Additionally, these spaces will provide five to six workstations in every gram panchayat totalling over 90,000 work stations to be used by working professionals or entrepreneurs.

He explained that the objective behind bringing doyens of IT industry to the conference was to have deliberations with the government on various topics pertaining to the field of IT like concept cities, skilling, emerging technologies, startups and electronic manufacturing and work out the modalities for collaboration.