Top firms in Hyderabad to add 1 lakh techies

HYDERABAD, DEC. 2:  

Despite uncertainty over the status of Hyderabad after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, IT majors seem bullish about the city at least going by their recruitment numbers revealed by AP Minister for Information Technology Ponnala Lakshmaiah.

TCS, Infosys and Wipro and global players Amazon, Facebook and Google are expected to add more than 1,00,000 techies over the next three-five years in Hyderabad, which is one of the key issues of the Telangana issue.

Ponnala said, “TCS expects to add close to 25,000 people in a new facility in Adibatla, Infosys is poised to increase its number from about 9,000 people to 45,000 at Pocharam (another IT hub), and Wipro another 12,000 people over the next three-five years.” He did not give the recruitment numbers of the MNCs on their request.

There is more good news. Hyderabad has been chosen as an IT Investment Region, and is expected to attract many more companies given the advantage of the city’s infrastructure. The metropolis currently employs about three lakh people in the IT sector.

After approval from the Cabinet, the State Government will initiate steps for developing the region. It will see an initial investment of Rs. 4800 crore and over the next 25 years some Rs. 30,000 crore, attracting other IT companies.

V. Rajanna President of ITsAP (the IT and ITeS Association of AP) said once the infrastructure and ecosystem are developed in the IT Investment Region,, investments will flow in and lead to more recruitments.

The Infosys Pocharam campus, which is expected to hire a total of 65,000 people when fully operational, will be part of the Investment Region as also the proposed SEZ being developed by Nuziveedu Group.

GAMING POLICY

A gaming policy is likely to be approved by the State Cabinet at its next meeting. A consultant appointed by the State has submitted a plan for development. Coming up on a 13-acre site, the first phase is expected to see development of 6,00,000 sq.ft. for incubating gaming companies.

Contrary to the general perception of flight of IT companies from Hyderabad due to agitations, the city has seen an increase in absorption of office space by the IT sector in the last three years, he said.