APIIC now calls for expression of interests for Vizag IT park

Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) is inviting expression of interests (EoIs) to develop the Information Technology Park at Visakhapatnam.

The state government has earmarked 4.5 hectares of land to set up the IT Park in the heart of the city near Ramakrishna beach.

"The state government has already handed over 4.5 hectares of land to APIIC for the IT Park, construction works of which will commence soon," a senior official of APIIC told Business Standard. "The government is developing the park to attract the major IT software companies to Vizag," he added.

APIIC, with the help of a private developer, will take up the construction of buildings on around 2.5 lakh square feet of space to accommodate some big IT firms.

According to APIIC sources, the corporation will provide 4.5 hectares of land as its equity while the private developer will invest in the construction of buildings including an HSBC call centre and a BPO building project at Vizag, which was jointly developed by L&T and APIIC.

However, the members of Vizag Information Technology Association (VITA) are requesting the state government to provide space for small and medium software export unit operators to set up their units in the proposed IT Park.

"Actually, VITA had mooted the proposal of setting up the IT Park at Vizag some six months back for the benefit of small and medium software export operators. It is with our initiative that the government is developing the IT Park in the city. So, we are requesting the state government to allot space at concessional rates to encourage the local entrepreneurs," VITA president B Prabhakar told Business Standard.

There are about 50 small and medium software export units operating in the city. Nearly 2,000 people are employed in these units. These firms exported close to Rs 30 crore worth of software last fiscal.

"We met the state IT secretary at Hyderabad recently. We have suggested the construction of twin buildings "� one exclusively for small and medium software companies "� at the proposed IT Park in Vizag, or provide space in the main building itself at concessional rentals for a limited period like in the case of special economic zones," he said.