Decks Cleared For New TCS Facility In Vizag

TCS is a bellwether brand of the industry and also for the Tata group. Its arrival to Vizag signals with a significant employee commitment completes the arrival of the Big Four to Vizag - RL Narayana, Chairman (Investment Committee), ITAAP

TCS setting up operations in Vizag will be a boon not only for the economic development of the State, but also for the youth of Visakhapatnam and adjoining districts, aspiring to join a large IT MNC - Winston Adams, Chairman (IT Sub-Committee), APCCIF, tells Bizz Buzz

Visakhapatnam: With decks cleared for launching of operations by Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) in Visakhapatnam very shortly as the Andhra Pradesh State government issued orders allowing Dallas Technology Centre LLP (DTC) to lease out its building at Rushikonda Hills here, AP Inc and people in Andhra Pradesh are hopeful that the new project will fuel growth of IT sector in Visakhapatnam.

It may be recalled here that during the stint of TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu as the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, IT investments had received a shot in the arm. The inauguration of Hi-Tech I City by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and establishment of Microsoft India Development Centre in Hyderabad subsequently put Hyderabad on the global IT landscape.

There is high expectancy here that the opening of TCS development centre with employment of 10,000 will be a game-changer, paving the way for attracting huge investments.

In an order vide GO MS: No. 81 dated November 30, 2024, the AP’s Industries & Commerce Department granted permission to DTC for leasing out its premises along with additional area in the process of allotment on request to facilitate creation of jobs to 2,000 in the first phase of opening TCS campus.

According to the GO, DTC was initially granted provisional allotment of Plot No. A, measuring 7,774.90 sqm at IT-Non-SEZ, Hill No.2, Madhurawada. Sale agreement was executed on August 8, 2016 and later registered.

The possession of the plot was handed over to the allottee on September 8, 2016. Dallas vide letter dated September 21, 2024 informed that they are in the process of facilitating the establishment of TCS at their facility resulting in the employment of approximately 2,000 IT professionals in Phase-I.

“With the current sanction plan of Ground+3 Floors, they can accommodate only 1,400 employees. However, TCS requires 2,000 employees for which following requests were submitted viz. allotment of additional land measuring 1,600 sqm out of available land of 1,909 sqm at the original allotted rate of Rs6,720 per sqm (for the purpose of complying with the set-back requirements),” the government pointed out, giving approval to accept the request. “TCS setting up operations in Vizag will be a boon not only for the economic development of the State, but also for the youth of Visakhapatnam and adjoining districts, aspiring to join a large MNC. This will transform the ecosystem and attract many IT & ITeS companies to start operations here. Endowed with natural beauty, many star hotels, decent air connectivity and a cosmopolitan culture, Vizag has been attracting people from many States and countries over the last few decades,” Winston Adams, Chairman (IT Sub-Committee), AP Chamber of Commerce & Industry Federation (APCCIF), told Bizz Buzz on Sunday.

Adams, who works as Vice-President in Fluentgrid, said most of the large talent pool from Ichhapuram to East and West Godavari districts is migrating to bigger cities for better pay and lifestyle would have options to work from here.

“Being part of Bhubaneswar Management Forum, wayback in the 1990s, I have seen how Infosys set up operations there and TCS few years later, Bhubaneswar saw phenomenal growth in emerging as an IT hub in Odisha,” he recalled.

Currently, Vizag has more than 200 IT & ITeS companies, including some large IT firms like Tech Mahindra, Patra India, WNS, Concentrix, Conduent, Wipro, Miracle, Cyient, Fluentgrid and Infosys (which set up operations in 2022). The overall employment is around 30,000 with turnover estimated at about Rs6,000 crore.

The city, captains in the IT industry say, is set to steadily scale new heights.

Rushikonda IT Park Association (RITPA) vice-president O Naresh Kumar, who is the CEO of Symbiosys Technologies, said the site at Kapuluppada, which was acquired from Knowledge Park project and cancelled for not following allotment norms by the project proponent, should be developed as an IT SEZ to facilitate major investments once plots are allotted to them.

Chairman of ITAAP Investment Committee RL Narayana said: “TCS is a bellwether brand of the industry and also for the Tata group. Its arrival to Vizag signals with a significant employee commitment completes the arrival of the Big Four to Vizag.”