VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HCL Technologies Limited for starting information technology centres in the capital city Amaravati and Vijayawada.
As per the MoU signed by ITE&C Department, on behalf of the State government, and HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the company will invest Rs 500 crore in two phases over a 10-year period.
In the first phase, Rs 300 crore will be invested in an IT Centre at Kesarapalli village in Gannavaram mandal, for which the government has given 17.86 acres of land. It is expected to generate direct and indirect employment to 3,000 people. The construction works of phase 1 are expected to be completed by August, 2018.
In the second phase, another Rs 200 crore will be invested and jobs for another 2000 people are likely to be created. Ten acres of land at Inavolu village in Amaravati has been given to the company and the works there are expected to commence in 2022.
Chief Minister Naidu, who was all praise for Shiv Nadar, whom he described as a true visionary, asked HCL to make Amaravati its second home. “Your presence here will create much-needed ecosystem for IT growth. We want to be the best in the world and every effort is being made to make Amaravati the best greenfield city in the world,” he said.
Explaining that his party has been in the forefront in the use of IT from 1984 itself, while Shiv Nadar has been into it from 1976, Naidu added, “We made Hyderabad a true knowledge economy and our contribution to it cannot be denied. We strived from the time, when even the thought of IT was not there in the State and carved a new city, Cyberabad, which has made Hyderabad more famous”.
Inviting Nadar to build the best infrastructure for HCL IT centres, Naidu assured him that his government will support the company in making its dream come true.
Speaking on the occasion, Shiv Nadar said, “HCL has always been at the forefront of bringing new opportunities to the Indian populace. This is an innovative initiative to reach out to the local talent, refine their skills and make them future ready for IT careers. We wanted to set up something in interior Andhra as most of our employees in our Chennai office are from AP. Our main idea is to encourage women who are well educated. That’s how this idea came up."
He said HCL is ready to promote creative work force for global companies. The company has the largest R&D wing with 6,000 people, he pointed out.