There has been much hype about the state coming up with a Signature Tower that was supposed to be on a much larger scale than the Cyber Towers of Hyderabad. The iconic super tower was to transform Visakhapatnam into the IT Hub/Capital of Andhra Pradesh it was touted to be.
Reports now state that the Signature Tower project has been shelved. The reason for the drop is poor response to global tenders for building the iconic tower at the Madhurawada IT SEZ facing Rushikonda Beach. American property firm Janes Long LaSalle was appointed as the project consultant.
The Signature Tower was supposed to be taken up in two phases. Its built up area was supposed to be one million sq ft and be armed with world class architecture through PPP under Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis. The investors were asked to invest Rs 500 crore on the two phase project, and the state government was only met with poor response.
The HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao had stated previously that maybe the tower could be constructed on the beach road by demolishing old quarters in Andhra University. Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to Chief Minister, JA Chowdary stated that now that the Signature Tower has been shelved, they could maybe construct a cluster of smaller buildings on the 17.98 acres of land that was set aside for the Signature Tower on hill no. 3 of IT SEZ.
He also stated that the Millennium Tower will provide needed facilities for various IT players and startups. The Millennium Tower will be fully operational by the end of this year, he said. The tower is being constructed on an investment of Rs 100 crore with a three lakh sq ft built up area near the Sunrise Incubation Hub.
IT Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy previously said that Visakhapatnam has an IT turnover of Rs 2000 crore from IT and IT enabled services, and hence, the development of the city was top on the state government’s agenda. A lot of MoUs are expected to be signed during the CII Partnership Summit that will be held in the city on 27 & 28 January.
