Minister for Information Technology K. T. Rama Rao has written to Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging him to sanction new software technology parks (STPs) for tier two and three towns like Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Khammam and Mahbubnagar.
He drew attention of the Union Minister to a reply by his deputy and Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the Lok Sabha on April 6 that the Union government had sanctioned 22 new STPs for tier two and three towns in the country but none of the towns from Telangana featured in the list. On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh were in the list.
Recalling that the Centre seemed to have ignored a performing State like Telangana in sanction of new software technology parks, Mr. Rao said the State had started construction of IT hubs in the above tier two and three towns. The government had built plug and play infrastructure in these towns. It saw huge interest from both major multinational IT companies and also small and medium enterprises to set up their operations in these towns. The government took several measures to develop the towns as IT powerhouses and facilitate the growth of a complete ecosystem like Hyderabad in these towns.
IT sector witnessed tremendous growth in Telangana after its emergence as a State. Software exports which were ₹57,258 crore when the State was formed grew to ₹1.45 lakh crore in 2021-22. The headcount of IT employees went up from 3.23 lakh to 6.28 lakh.
Mr. Rao said majority of the IT/ITES exports of Telangana came from Hyderabad which was a major IT hub not only in India but world. Therefore, the government expanded its IT activities to tier two and three towns to generate more employment opportunities.
Now, the Union government meted out a raw deal to the State in sanction of STPs and, earlier, withdrew the Information Technology Investment Region sanctioned to Hyderabad by the earlier UPA government. Several reminders by himself and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to the Centre to restore the project to Hyderabad were in vain.
