Govt to acquire 4,000 acres for IT, ITES ventures

The Andhra Pradesh government has, in a landmark decision, decided to acquire 4,000 acres for the setting up of IT and information technology enabled services (ITES) operations in and around Hyderabad alone.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister's decision is a first of sorts, because for the first time the revenue department, the energy department, and the urban development authorities will work in an integrated manner to acquire and develop the land.

The individual departments have been instructed to raise finances and be ready to ensure that no development activity is affected because of lack of funds. With this decision, the state government has just in the last one week earmarked about 5,000 acres for the setting up of IT and ITES operations in and around Hyderabad alone.

It was only a couple of days back that the chief minister gave instructions to the revenue department to acquire 1,000 acres of land. Sources in the government confirmed that the 1,000-acre land near Gopanpally, where the previous TDP government's dream Formula 1 project was proposed, had been identified for this purpose.

According to sources, the chief minister has asked the IT authorities to identify the 4,000-acre land along the proposed 8-lane expressway to be developed around the Hyderabad city. The length of the proposed expressway project has recently been increased to 150 km from the earlier proposal of 100 km to cover more areas around the city.

Apart from other features and facilities, the areas alongside the express highway project will enjoy connectivity to the international airport proposed near Shamshabad. The government intends to complete the 8-lane road project by 2007, coinciding with the expected completion of the international airport project.

Apart from the 5,000 acres to be acquired around Hyderabad, the state government is also planning to acquire land in Tier II cities such as Vizag, Vijayawada and Tirupathi for IT and ITES operations.

"All the IT and ITES companies have shown interest in setting up in Hyderabad first before expanding their operations into Tier II cities. So it became crucial for the government to acquire and develop such a huge extent of land at Hyderabad in the immediate future," a government official told Business Standard.