Govt upbeat, IT bosses wary of investing in AP

Hyderabad, Feb 25 (INN): In view of the political turmoil due to the bifurcation issue that had been raging in the state, the investment flow of the modern growth engine - Information Technology has been sluggish. It has been likened to a bubble which may manage to stay afloat or burst any moment due to volatility of the situation in the historic city of Hyderabad which was known for the bygone eco-friendly and investor-friendly status.

Worse still, the students' unrest and the TNGOs' non-cooperation agitation and their threat to further intensify the struggle for Telangana is likely to snowball the already volatile situation which is incompatible to retain the existing investments leave alone high expectations over new investors. But the establishment is firm on going ahead with their onward march wooing new entrants, promising the best of infrastructure and other facilities in Hyderabad.

The government projections on the facilities and infrastructure available were on the high side to induce the investors to continue in spite of the impending 'danger' awaiting them. The shaky situation torments the managers of the IT firms who agreed, reluctantly, to participate in the forthcoming it event scheduled for March 1 and 2. But the belligerent mood in effect terrifies the IT companies' CEOs who always seek better returns. IT giants had their own apprehensions about the task of reaching the target of Rs 36,000 crore for 2010-11 for IT exports.

Current indications are that AP achieved an export turnover of Rs 20,000 crore. Revival of agitation has indeed cast a spell of doubt whether the IT industry could generate exports to fill up the backlog of Rs 16,000 crore, an IT spokesman said. During 2009-2010, the state recorded IT exports to the tune of Rs 33,000 crore and job generation of over two lakh. But Principal Secretary, K Ratnaprabha expressed confidence that the target of Rs 36,000 worth exports would be reached compared to the last year's target of Rs 33,000 crore. But the 2011-2012 budget for IT has been fixed at Rs 51 crore by the government and it sought to excel the expectations of all concerned.

STPI director Venugopal was of the opinion that 'cluster' concept of IT companies will set the tone for more jobs and companies to come here. Roughly 2,000 acres would be likely to be allotted for this purpose. This is only on paper as of now. Whether it will take a shape remains to be seen. IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmiah was also optimistic about a favourable trend. But frankly some of the top IT giants chose to set up shop in China, which is seen to overtake the United States, Korea and Japan in the IT sector.

There is no space constraint, nor any dearth of infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh. Above all, the climate and the people are welcoming. The only hitch is whether there is a stable government and whether the valuable private property is safe in their hands to facilitate better returns for the investors.

This is the main question that haunts the managers concerned. The government has set up an advanced security system for the IT corridor. A radar warns all police stations of agitations. Two special companies of paramilitary forces is kept at the disposal of the Cyberabad police commissioner to monitor the situation.