Ponnala invites Wal-Mart to invest in state's IT
Hyderabad, April 20 (INN): Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Wednesday revealed that he had invited the retailing giant Wal-Mart to invest in the state, during his visit to the United States of America recently.
Mr Lakshmaiah told media persons at the Secretariat that he had addressed a letter to the chief of Wal-Mart, a 'Fortune 500' company. 'I have made all attempts to seek their investments in Andhra Pradesh. The Wal-Mart is said to have an annual income of Rs 20 lakh crore and is on the list of the Fortune 500 companies. The company's annual income is said to be Rs 20,000 crore. Even five percent of what they gained or their income is invested in IT in AP, the state would flourish,' the Minister said.
Mr Lakshamaiah said that besides making all efforts to invite them and provide them the requisite infrastructure, the state government is creating an ambience for their investments in Hyderabad, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kakinada and Warangal.
He revealed that he had made a power point presentation while in the US and impressed upon them to choose Hyderabad as their destination in view of all round development and growth with international airports, better infrastructure plus the industry friendly people and the man power.
The Minister made specific highlights in respect of the infrastructure and asked them to see a partner and a friend in AP government. 'You ask what you want and we will work it out for you,' the Minister stated in his letter. Asked whether the Andhra Pradesh is put to sale in the form of investments, the Minister replied in the negative.
However he made it clear that the Investor Portfolio of Andhra Pradesh was extremely attractive as over 1,300 IT and ITeS companies had set up shops in the state and the Centre had also given 73 notified SEZs to the state.
Mr Lakshamaiah continued that AP also is home to 700 engineering colleges producing over two lakh engineering graduates accounting for 20 percent of nationwide produce.
Fielding a question, the Minister said that he was receiving positive feedback from US based companies and he was hopeful that more and more would explore the possibilities for investing in AP. 'On our part we are leaving no stone unturned to make Hyderabad as the destination for the overseas IT companies,' Mr Lakshamaiah said.
News Posted: 20 April, 2011
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