1753674755.jpg)
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is reportedly planning to lay off 12,000 employees in FY26, a move that mirrors ongoing job cuts across the IT sector.
Companies are citing restructuring, automation and cost-cutting as reasons.
Yet, even as they reduce headcount, firms like TCS continue to receive prime government land across states — including massive tracts in Andhra Pradesh for so-called “development.”
This raises a fundamental question; what’s the point of giving away huge chunks of public land to companies that are downsizing globally?
In the case of TCS, the Andhra Pradesh government allotted large land parcels at little to no cost, hoping it would generate employment and economic activity.
But with such large-scale layoffs on the horizon, whom are these facilities meant to accommodate? And how can this be justified as development?
Unlike cities such as Bengaluru, which have a diversified economic base by spanning apparel, aerospace, biotech and manufacturing — Andhra Pradesh remains highly dependent on IT assuming it would drive growth.
But software campuses don’t equate to long-term economic resilience if they don’t focus on variety of industrial investments with core focus on manufacturing.
Take the Lulu Mall in Vizag as another example. Prime beachfront land was handed over without rent. How does that improve livelihoods or grow the economy in a meaningful way? How can a mall be called development?
When manufacturing, exports and port infrastructure are neglected, and land is distributed to retail and IT giants, it raises doubts; is this real development, or just a distribution of public assets to the well-connected?
If a company like TCS is laying off thousands globally, what economic logic justifies giving them more land in the name of growth?
Real development lies in employment in varied industries but not in gifting land to IT companies and malls.
