Visakhapatnam: With several investors making a beeline to Visakhapatnam to set up IT units, the port city is fast emerging as a tier-II destination. Software giants like IBM and Microsoft are evincing keen interest to establish units here what with the state government announcing its resolve to develop the ‘city of destiny’ as the ideal base next only to Hyderabad for software and BPO units.
A team of IBM representatives from America confabulated with the Andhra University authorities on Tuesday to enquire about the facilities to set up a global centre here. Sources said the IBM team enquired about the manpower, connectivity of rail, road and air, besides availability of power and water facilities. “The city has better connectivity than other cities like Vijayawada and Tirupati,” AU registrar Prasada Reddy told the team, it was learnt. The team would meet the district authorities on Wednesday.
Sources said another major player in the software industry, Microsoft would sign an MoU with AU on March 12 to train students for its new software, which would be released soon. The company would provide the new software to three lakh students of more than 600 colleges under the AU purview. “The IT major is willing to provide project work to our students and give training to the faculty,” VC Beela Satyanarayana said.
The city has IT bigwigs like Kenexa, Sutherland and HSBC, which have already established development centre here. Wipro constructed a centre in eight acres of land in the heart of the city and is expected to launch operations in a couple of months as the impact of the global meltdown is decreasing.
The government allotted land to 27 companies in the two SEZs on the hilltops at Madhurawada and Rushikonda. Six companies have already started their operations with 2000 staff. “If all the companies launch operations, the manpower strength would cross more than 25,000,” Symbiosis Technologies CEO O Naresh Kumar told media. Sources said software exports from Vizag was to the tune of Rs 504 crore in 2009.
