Hyderabad: Telangana IT hubs built during the previous government had become underused due to a lack of industry partnerships, IT Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu said in the Assembly.
He said officials had conducted field-level inspections of IT hubs and towers built across the state. The government found that several facilities had become unusable after construction without anchor or industry partners.
Sridhar Babu was responding to a question from an MLA about the IT Tower and IT Hub in Nizamabad. He said the government had taken special steps to bring poorly planned and closed facilities back into use.
The minister said the government was also expanding IT activity to Tier-2 cities. Nalgonda, Adilabad, Mahabubnagar and Karimnagar were among the cities being targeted to reduce pressure on Hyderabad.
He said the government would soon formally launch the IT Hub or Tower in Adilabad. The state was ready to develop new Telangana IT hubs if anchor partners or industry partners came forward.
Telangana IT hubs expansion targets jobs and data centres
Sridhar Babu said the state government was working on a focused plan to create more employment opportunities for Telangana youth.
More than 75 Global Capability Centres (GCCs) had opened in Hyderabad during the past two years, he said. He described this as a record for the country.
The minister said one lakh young people had secured new jobs during the government’s two-year tenure. He also announced that the government would soon introduce a new GCC policy.
He said work on the new policy was already underway. The policy would support the state’s efforts to expand the IT sector and create more employment opportunities.
Sridhar Babu said data centres would play a key role in building a comprehensive ecosystem for IT companies. The government had therefore placed special focus on the sector.
He said the government had begun a specific plan to address challenges that could emerge from data centres in the coming years. It was also making alternative arrangements to supply the electricity required by data centres without affecting local needs.
The government would take steps to establish data centres in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and towns, Sridhar Babu said.
He also criticised the Centre over the construction of the Regional Ring Road (RRR). He alleged that the Centre had provided no support for the state’s ambitious RRR project.
Sridhar Babu urged BJP members to take up the issue and seek support for the project. He said the government was pursuing measures to expand employment and investment opportunities beyond Hyderabad.
The minister said the revival of existing Telangana IT hubs would continue alongside efforts to attract new industry partnerships and expand technology infrastructure across smaller cities.