Hyderabad: Information Technology Minister K. Tarakarama Rao on Sunday wrote a letter to the Central Government stating that the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) lacks clarify. He also said that the Centre so far did not release any funds for the project.
KTR reminded that the Central Government approved the project, to be set up on 202 sq kms in Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area, in September 2013. He said the Detailed Project Report for ITIR was submitted twice to the Union Government by the State Government.
“For creation of external physical infrastructure, a financial assistance to the tune of Rs.4863 crores (Phase – I Rs.942 crores and Phase II – Rs.3921 crores) was sought from GoI and on consideration, vide Notification dt: 13.11.2013 Government of India approved Central support to an extent of Rs.3275 crores (Phase–I Rs.165 crores for 2 projects. and Phase-II: Rs.3110 crores for 3 projects,” he informed.
However, KTR said even after repeated persuasion from the State Government, funds were not released to any of the above mentioned infra projects under ITIR. Series of meetings held on the issue have not yielded any result till date, he said.
KTR claimed that the growth rate of IT Exports from the Telangana in the past three years has consistently surpassed the country’s average growth rate.
For the year 2016-17, Telangana’s IT exports have grown by 13.85% – almost 4% more than the national average. In absolute numbers, the IT Exports from Telangana have grown from Rs 56,258 Crores in 2013-14 to a whopping Rs 85,470 Crores in 2016-17.
Direct employment in the IT Sector has also grown from 3,23,396 to 4,31,891 during the same period.
“Telangana government’s proactive investment environment and the TSiPASS Single-Window Clearance system has helped the state attract several marquee names in the last three years.
Global majors such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Sales Force, DBS, ZF and Uber have announced setting up their operations in Telangana. The state is also fast evolving as the go-to destination for electronics manufacturing companies,” he said.
KTR also informed that that to help nurture the innovation ecosystem in Telangana, the State Government has launched T-Hub, India’s largest incubator for startups – a facility which you have personally visited last year.
Today, T-Hub has spawned several incubators in Hyderabad and thousands of startups are getting incubated in these incubators. To help upskill the youngsters from Telangana, the state government has launched the Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) initiative.
KTR said that the Telangana State has been making rapid strides in terms of attracting investments in the IT & ITES sector in spite of lack of assistance from the Union Government under the ITIR Project.
“I would like to take this opportunity to request you to expedite the sanction of funds for various infrastructure projects under ITIR, as agreed upon previously.
ITIR is a very ambitious initiative of the Union Government. The project has generated immense interest both among the investors and the citizens. However, even after four years, nothing concrete has materialized owing to lack of support from the Union Government,” KTR said.
The minister said that lack of clarity on the ITIR Project from the Union Government has been leading to frequent adverse news reports and is creating confusion among the various stakeholders.
The Union Government may kindly give clarity on the continuation of the ITIR Project and also the release of the promised funds, he demanded. (INN)