Visakhapatnam continues to be a favourite destination for IT firms in the state

Visakhapatnam, which is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh, is fast emerging as a major IT hub in the state. In addition to its picturesque locale, availability of other favorable facilities have made multiple firms evince interest to launch their operations in Visakhapatnam.

As per the figures reported, it has been learned that the city has witnessed a 30% rise in the turnover of the IT sector during the 2017-18 fiscal year when compared to the ₹2,000 crore recorded in the previous year.

Andhra Pradesh IT Minister, Nara Lokesh, who was recently in the city, said that Visakhapatnam has continued to remain as the preferred location for the majority of the IT firms.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, during his visit to Visakhapatnam in March, inaugurated the office of Conduent Inc. The company, which is headquartered in New Jersey, offers digital platforms for businesses and governments, and operates in 40 countries. Conduent is expected to provide employment to about 5000 people in a phased manner.

Another global giant, Franklin Templeton and Innovation solutions too had its Visakhapatnam centre inaugurated by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in March. The company, which would be investing about Rs 455 crore at this centre, is expected to employ about 2500 people.

The CII Partnership Summit held in Visakhapatnam in February, witnessed MoUs worth Rs 7000 crore being signed between the government and several IT firms.

Visakhapatnam is also taking rapid strides towards emerging as a major hub for the booming technology of blockchain.

“Vizag used to be a sleepy city, and in the past, it was tough to get people here. However today, it is ready to embrace the wave of technology, and become a valley to reckon with, along with the lines of Silicon Valley. The positioning will mark the city as a promising global Fintech destination. To achieve this, competitions are being run across places like London, Singapore, New York, and Tel Aviv. The shortlisted companies will come in September for a demonstration, which will be part of the flagship programme. Winners will be granted one million USD. This event will garner global visibility for the city and it will become a destination for the next generation of start-ups and technologies. The start of real-time governance, which hasn’t happened anywhere else and the beginning of Google’s development center are other promising developments,” JA Chowdary told Yo! Vizag earlier.