VIJAYAWADA: Describing performance of bhoomi puja for the research and development centre of HCL Technologies at Kesarapalli near Gannavaram on Monday as historic, IT Minister Nara Lokesh said the State government had set itself a target of creating one lakh jobs in the information technology sector by 2019. “In the last four years after the State bifurcation, we have created 36,000 IT jobs in Andhra Pradesh. Our target is to create one lakh jobs in the IT sector by 2019, he said.
Lokesh further said, “We just not believe in developing next generation job seekers, but next generation job givers. We believe innovation is a way of life and part of society. We are holding hackathons on monthly basis and we invited HCL for this amazing journey. There are amazing ideas in youth of India and AP. It is important to harness the innovative ideas for growth.’’
Stating that AP has been on top in Ease of Doing Business rankings in the country, the IT Minister said they want to benchmark themselves in technology and development to be among top five on the planet.
Lokesh said the investment by HCL in AP is a marriage of ideas between two great leaders (Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Shiv Nadar, chairman of HCL).
“It is a confluence of two leaders. In their first meeting, the two leaders held talks for three hours. I don’t know what transpired between them, but today we are here in Amaravati to witness the performance of Bhoomi Puja for the research and development centre of HCL Technologies,’’ Lokesh said.
Elaborating on how leadership brings about a great change, the IT Minister said the residuary State of AP after bifurcation in 2014, had the lowest Per Capita Income in South India.
“Our Chief Minister Naidu has set a tall agenda for us. He wants AP to be among the top three States in terms of PCI in South India by 2022 and by 2029, we are determined to place AP in Number 1 position not only in terms of PCI, but also in happiness index,’’ he said. Lokesh played a crucial role in bringing HCL Technologies to the State which is going to invest `750 crore in development of IT campuses.
On May 12, 2017, he handed over the documents pertaining to allotment of land for HCL project to Shiv Nadar in New Delhi. Within 45 days of signing an agreement with HCL, all the land documents were handed over to the IT major. Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Executive Director & CEO, HCL Corporation, and Director, HCL Technologies, said, “HCL Technologies is committed to bringing new opportunities and creating a better future for the people.
With this in mind, we have successfully expanded to emerging IT hubs like Madurai, Lucknow and Nagpur over the last couple of years with a great degree of success. Setting up a Global IT and Training Centre in Vijayawada is one of the biggest initiatives. At HCL, we identify the capabilities in our workforce to ensure the delivery of best results to our clients. The creation of the Global Research and Development Centre is aligned with our strategic vision to expand and create opportunities in the emerging cities.”